


Forget-Me-Not

by Rhyllow



Series: Forget-Me-Not [1]
Category: New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing, danganronpa v3 - Fandom
Genre: ...Poor Kiibo, Angst, But he doesn't deserve this, Fluff, Hanahaki AU, Hanahaki Disease, Hope's Peak AU, Investigation, M/M, Mentions of Blood, Oma Kokichi Is a Little Shit, Ouma deserves the world, Pining, So does Kiibo, Suffering, There's some Tenko x Himiko if you squint, Unrequited Love, dice - Freeform, hanahaki
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-23
Updated: 2018-01-31
Packaged: 2019-02-19 04:19:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 46,999
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13115883
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rhyllow/pseuds/Rhyllow
Summary: Kokichi is an existence built on deceit and secrets. He didn’t think that some pitiful liar like him would ever be able to love, but these beliefs are destroyed and replaced by something more beautiful and terrifying than he could have ever imagined. Confirmation. Confirmation that his love was real and unrequited, in the form of deadly flowers.





	1. Fall

**Author's Note:**

> Just a few things about this world:
> 
> -All characters attend Hope’s Peak. Junko doesn’t exist, and the Kamakura project never started. The D2 characters are third years, D1 are second years, and D3 first years. Idk lets go with it.  
> -None of their pasts were fabricated, unfortunately. (I’m looking at you, Korekiyo)  
> -Kokichi is actually the Supreme Leader of a secret organization with 10,000 members. Yeet. I’m still calling it D.I.C.E. tho…  
> -Shuichi has solved many cases, not just one

There is a secret, a big secret, that no one except the law and a select few people know. That is the existence of D.I.C.E.

D.I.C.E. is an organization that works to conquer the world from the shadows. One by one, people, businesses, corporations, organizations, and even governments have been infiltrated and taken over by D.I.C.E.. It is an evil organization with over 10,000 members. Of course, you would never find a D.I.C.E. member just flaunting their affiliation. That’s just asking to be arrested. 

D.I.C.E. is unimaginably powerful. Even though it hasn’t been around long, it’s racked up enough members to be a real threat to the world. Now, an organization that strong must have a strong leader, right? The ones who know about D.I.C.E. have been wondering this for ages. The leader had to be smart, unbelievably smart. They had to be ruthless, and willing to throw away their life for their cause. The best chance, they thought, was that the Supreme Leader was some evil elder with vast wisdom, and an iron fist. 

Never, in their wildest dreams, would anyone think that the Supreme leader was a 5 foot 1 lovesick teenager with ruthless attitude of a toddler.

Kokichi Ouma was born into a normal family as the youngest child, and he started out by leading a normal life. His parents never gave him much attention, since they were always either at work, or taking care of his siblings. He longed for the love only a mother could give, and the warmth only a father could provide. But Kokichi’s early childhood stayed cold, empty and lonely. Looking back on it, Kokichi wondered just how that affected his present self

Then, his family was murdered in front of his eyes. Nice start! This experience could have warped Kokichi’s young heart in many ways, but his psyche decided to take the more dramatic path. He decided, at the tender age of four, that he would take over the world. Once he had all the power the world had to offer, becoming the Supreme Leader of the Earth, he would transform it into a world with no killing.

Strange kid, huh?

Kokichi wanted nothing to do with his house anymore. He didn’t want the questions the police would ask, nor did he want the publicity of being the lone survivor of a family massacre. He needed to rise from the shadows, where no one would ask about his past, goals, or true self. He would surround himself with people, who would answer to him. There would be no more crying out for attention. Only obedience.

Kokichi was a natural born genius when it came to people. As a child living on the streets, he manipulated people’s hearts and minds, using their sense of guilt to intrigue them, blasting them away with his ideals to hook them, giving them food he bought with gambling money to bait them, and blackmailing all others into submission. By the time he turned eight, Kokichi had already gathered thirty followers, all of them, even the blackmailed, entirely loyal and unyielding. 

But for Kokichi, a band of homeless teens and adults wouldn't work for his plans. Sure, they would never leave his side, but he couldn’t progress. He needed bewildering brawns, and bemusing brains. He needed someone who could stand on his level as an equal.

He needed talent.

The next two years of Kokichi’s life were spent taking over small businesses, breaking down the walls of large companies, and gathering the best talent for his organization. Most would never put their life and values in the hands of a nine year old, but there was something… mysterious about Kokichi, that many wanted to take part in his childish goal. The moment he had them intrigued, Kokichi would use his same old methods. Bait, hook, and blackmail. In this period of time, Kokichi’s follower count climbed, as thirty went to two hundred. It was in that time when Kokichi met his most trusted ally, a doctor named Naoki, who helped him start to make the organization into something more, well, organized.

Thus, D.I.C.E. was born.

Under Kokichi’s direct leadership, D.I.C.E.’s influence spread through Japan and outside it. Membership exploded, though every member was handpicked by Kokichi and his closest followers. After he felt that their income was steady enough, Kokichi began to take over governing powers. By the time he was thirteen, almost half of the world was at the mercy of Supreme Leader Kokichi Ouma.

He took control of stock markets. Mafia, Yakuza, hitmen, military leaders, all of them were subject’s of Kokichi. 

Kokichi was playing his game perfectly. His genius intellect and wonderful people skills were propelling him towards his goal.

Oh, and there was his ability to tell lies.

Through his constant lying, Kokichi created himself a personality, preferences, and a backstory. He lied so much, that he was soon able to convince himself that the mischievous, energetic, attention loving persona that he spun was the real him. And so, he became one with his lies.

Kokichi’s story is unbelievable. Kokichi himself is someone that surpasses all expectations. He is, after all, a Supreme Leader.

Now, let me ask you this;

Why was Kokichi Ouma, the loved, feared, and all powerful Supreme Leader of D.I.C.E., and soon the world, throwing up flowers in his bathroom?

It’s quite the long story, so let’s get to that later.

Even with all the success in his life, Kokichi has known little else but fear and pain. Especially in the last year, when Kokichi was invited to attend Hope’s Peak Academy under the title of Ultimate Supreme Leader. Kokichi had no idea how they found out about him, his name, or his organization, but if anything, he went to Hope’s Peak to get the answers- and maybe meet some true friends. Kokichi didn’t have true friends. He had lies… and that was really it.

But he should’ve known that what he wanted was impossible to get.

Every time his heart wanted to get close to someone, his conscience would force him to distance himself with lies. Every time he wanted to have fun with someone, his awkwardness would always take it too far. Everything he did seemed to make him the villain of his new class. Nobody trusted him. They saw him as a handful. The authority and obedience he held with D.I.C.E. meant nothing. In fact, they didn’t believe him about D.I.C.E., either. To them, he was just one big liar. 

A waste of space.

But there was one person who always seemed to give him a second chance. Even though Kokichi messed up over and over, always resorting to lies, provocation, and insults, they always made it a point to come back, and try to learn the real Kokichi

And that brings us to present day, where a sixteen year old Kokichi has spent the last hour of his life throwing up flowers.

Every bloom that he spat out was a reminder that the one who seemed to care for him was out of reach. Every color reminded him that he was too cowardly to present the one he loved with the real Kokichi. Every time his throat burned, every time he coughed, and every drop of blood was a reminder… that no one loved him. 

He was dying from Hanahaki disease, born of unrequited love. It was truly ironic. Love, the thing that Kokichi never received from his parents, was going to kill him. The very thing that he grew up devoid of was going to suck the life out of him and leave him to wilt.

Kokichi had created D.I.C.E. to gain enough power to prevent unnecessary deaths, a belief that spanned from the death of his parents. But even after Kokichi’s life force was being drained from him, he couldn’t help but laugh at the irony. No matter how powerful D.I.C.E. grew, Kokichi would still die. It was so like him, to laugh in the face of death. He laughs at things he doesn’t understand. He laughed at what he was afraid of.

Kokichi Ouma was afraid of death. He was afraid of dying, knowing that no one in the world truly loved him. 

So until his death, Kokichi would continue to lie. He would lie to gain power in the world, and he would lie to keep his classmates from ever finding out the truth. Then, he would quit school, pass on his post as Supreme Leader to his most trusted doctor, and die alone, coughing up flowers and blood as the evil roots of unrequited love wrapped around his lungs, crushing his organs, and his spirit, forever.

Yes, he would lie. He would lie… and lie… and lie... 

It might seem hard to believe, but there was nothing Kokichi hated more than lies.

He stood over his sink, staring blankly into the mirror positioned above the faucet. He had purple eyes, right? No, he would never know for sure. He had told the most pointless lies about color, to the point where he wasn’t sure if the words he associated with the various hues were correct. They could be blue… yellow… he was confusing himself. 

If only… his family hadn’t been murdered. Sure, he probably would’ve grown to be messed up- at least, more messed up than he already was, but at least he would have the safety of family. He would be able to relish in the fact that no matter how hard life got, he could go home. D.I.C.E. was like a home to him, but it was a place with no love. Only respect, idealism, and blind faith. Kokichi wanted to love so bad. 

But, were those feelings even true? Or were they just pointless lies of Kokichi’s own creation? He would never know. His heart clenched at the horrible uncertainty of it all.

Flower petals littered the sink and the floor. Kokichi brought his hand to his face, sliding his fingers down his cheek. That cold sensation… was that a lie too? Was everything he felt a lie? His mind wandered, and soon enough, he imagined a certain someone caressing his cheek.

More flowers exploded into the sink.

The pain was horrible, and Kokichi spent the next few seconds dry heaving and in agony. He was getting worse. Much, much worse. 

And it was all the fault of Shuichi Saihara. 

Kokichi noticed tears falling from his eyes, and he did nothing to stop them from dripping down the drain. The tears were nothing like the fat, deceptious tears he cried to mess with his peers. They were slow and serene, like trickling streams of pent up emotions finally finding a way out.

His emotions were now all over the place. His desire for love, his responsibility as a Supreme Leader, his loneliness, the hatred of his peers, the hatred he felt for himself, all of it just came out. He could no longer stay quiet. The bathroom echoed with loud sobs from the boy, who suddenly felt very, very small. He was really pathetic, or that’s what he thought. He couldn’t get those words out of his head. Why couldn’t he just pull himself together? Why? Why? Why?

Kokichi’s shoulders shook as he silenced himself, though the emotion was still there, and ever so painful. Wiping his tears, he stomped out of his bathroom, slamming the door behind him. His room was a mess of dirty uniforms, empty bottles of Panta, and assorted flower petals. Eight months. That’s how long Kokichi had been suffering from Hanahaki. That’s how long he had been suffering from the disease known as Saihara Shuichi.

At first, it was a petal every other day. All he truly had to worry about was the feelings that played with his heart, and the possibility of Shuichi giving up on him. Then, about a month in, he had his first true episode. He had accidentally let his thoughts wander in class, and they landed on Shuichi. Suddenly, the familiar prickling at the back of his throat appeared that let him know a petal was coming. He placed his hand over his mouth, ready to muffle the coughing and catch the petal. Then, he felt more. His mind raced wildly with horrible thoughts of loneliness, and his heart pounded painfully. His throat was burning, and he couldn’t breathe. Kokichi feebly raised a hand, and with a raspy voice, asked to be excused. Ignoring the confused looks of his classmates, Kokichi raced out of the classroom, and to the bathroom, where he planned on suffering through the sudden symptoms alone. What he didn’t expect, were the flower petals. Well, he expected a few. Maybe he would get two. If things were bad, he would get ten. But… no.

For a solid thirty seconds, Kokichi hunched over the toilet, throwing up flower petals of every color, shape, and size. His body shook violently and his hands struggled to keep his hair from touching the bowl. The entire time, all he could think about was Shuichi. His eyes, his hands, his lips, his words, his actions, his everything. Everything was consumed with thoughts of the one he could never reach, unimaginable pain, and petals.

Ever since, his disease would force him into a state of agony almost daily. If he was lucky, he could go a week without seeing those horrible flowers, but most of the time, he was not. Sometimes, when his love for Shuichi grew unbearable, he would find himself throwing up petals hourly.

The moment he fell had been burned into Kokichi’s memories. The adrenaline that was coursing through his veins when he felt love for the very first time ensured that no detail was lost.

It was after Kokichi had spent some time with Shuichi after school a few months after the new year started. Kokichi knew something was up with him, and his suspicions were found to be correct when he saw Shuichi slyly taking notes during their conversation.

“Seriously?” Kokichi muttered. “Taking notes? Why the hell?”

Shuichi’s face flushed with guilt, as anyone would if they were caught. But Kokichi was quite curious as to why Shuichi was taking notes in the first place.

Shuichi looked at a loss for words. It was clear to Kokichi that Shuichi was trying to lie, but then he gave up, deciding to tell the truth. “Well, I’ve been observing you, as I do with all my classmates, and I feel as if your actions and reactions are ingenuine. I was hoping that by talking to you, I could pick up some hints as to what your true personality is like.”

“True personality?” Kokichi asked, intrigued. “Nishishishi, so you’ve finally figured it out. Kudos to you!”

“Really?” Shuichi questioned, a look of shock decorating his face. 

Kokichi smirked. “That was a lie! Or, maybe not, but it could be. I’ll let Mr. Detective figure that out for himself.”

He waved goodbye to the detective, a little disappointed that Shuichi didn’t want to talk to him as much as he wanted to study him. But before he could get far, he felt something soft touch his hand. Shuichi had caught up to him, and for some reason, it seemed that he didn’t want Kokichi to leave just yet.

“I don’t know why, but I feel like this isn’t the real you.” Shuichi said, smiling. He looked straight into Kokichi’s eyes, a feat that not many were able to accomplish, whether out of fear, respect, or disgust. The sincerity and genuine worry that glittered in Shuichi’s beautiful, earnest eyes shot straight through Kokichi’s heart like a bullet. “If I’m correct, then I will do my best to find out the truth about you. You should be true to yourself.”

It still amazed Kokichi how such a small show of friendliness had impacted him in such a way. Kokichi’s descent into love-driven madness was instantaneous, like the detective had shot a bullet straight through his heart.

Kokichi knew he needed to act on his love, or he would go absolutely insane. He spent hours trying to figure out what to give to Shuichi to hint at his feelings. Finally, Kokichi settled on a classic bouquet of flowers. He had chosen a unique combination of roses and forget-me-nots. They both symbolised love, and while he was browsing the selection, he decided that the small, blue bloom of the forget-me-not reminded him a lot of his favorite detective, so he added them to the mix.

Even though he had a heart full of love and a great gift, Kokichi found that he couldn’t bring himself to give the bouquet of flowers to Shuichi

A week later, he had a horrible coughing fit. Something was lodged in his throat. He coughed, and coughed, until the culprit had landed in his hands.

It was a single flower petal.

It was a Forget-Me-Not.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

More people began to file into the restaurant as lunchtime approached, many of them looking at Shuichi curiously as they passed his lonely table. He pulled his hat farther down his face, silently praying for the speedy arrival of his friends, who ‘promised that they wouldn’t be late.’ he couldn’t stand the stares any longer. 

“Saihara!” Shuichi looked up to see his best friends, Rantaro and Kaede, pushing through the hordes of hungry people to reach the table Shuichi had snagged. They were holding hands, signifying the relationship that no one but Shuichi knew they had. Shuichi slightly nudged his cap to see them better.

“Sorry that we’re late.” Kaede panted, fiddling with the menu in front of her. “Rantaro’s car broke down. Luckily, this pink haired guy came along and fixed it.”

“I wonder who that was?” Rantaro yawned. 

Shuichi smiled softly at the small talk. This situation made him quite uncomfortable, to be honest. For a few months, Shuichi had found that he had a small crush on Kaede. He knew it was nothing major, since he never found himself longing to be at her side, but the signs were there. He enjoyed her presence, loved her laugh, and if she wasn’t one of the cutest people on earth, then Shuichi didn’t know who was. But he could never interfere with her happiness. And Rantaro was his best friend, which made his situation even more impossible.

“Well, you two have very good intuition, so I was, well, wondering. My agency assigned me two possible cases, so I can choose, but I don’t know which to pick.”

“Are we even allowed to look at this stuff?” Rantaro questioned. “It says ‘Top Secret’ in big red letters…”

“Anyone who has my permission can look at the files. Don’t worry, so please take a look.” Kaede and Rantaro each took a file, and began to read them. Rantaro looked a little queasy. “Hey, uh, Saihara? ‘Guy stabbed twenty-seven times in the back, heart stuffed down his throat.’... why the hell would a high schooler be offered this case?” He turned the contents to Shuichi. “And there’s a picture?!”

“They probably offered it to me because I’ve solved a similar case in the past. It was a serial murder, and all the victims were killed by stab wounds, and the knives had been left in the bodies. All had major organs missing. Over three victims, there were seventy-two knives-”

“I get it, I get it! Damn, I’m gonna throw up…” Rantaro muttered, now staring sadly at his hamburger.

Meanwhile, Kaede was wearing a solemn expression as she read the contents of her case file. “This is…”

Rantaro looked at her curiously. Shuichi smiled wearily. “Oh yeah…” Shuichi murmured. “I don’t really know what’s going on with that case.” He took the case file from her, reading it aloud. “Two victims, ages thirty and twenty two, found dead with the same fatal injuries, and similar lipstick marks on their left cheek. While locations were different, both victims had the elusive Hanahaki disease.” Shuichi sighed. “What is the ‘elusive Hanahaki disease?’”

Kaede’s eyes went wide. “You don’t know?” She exclaimed, before calming down. “No, actually, I’m not surprised. Most people don’t like to talk about it, so words doesn’t travel about it.”

“Hanahaki disease is a sickness born of unrequited love.” Rantaro pitched in. “If the love is strong enough, and I mean, really strong, the love will manifest itself into roots that take hold of the respiratory system. The victim will start coughing up flowers, and that’ll continue until they choke on their flowers and die.” Rantaro wasn’t looking to good. “It’s a horrible way to go out. I heard it’s more painful than anything. And add that onto the loneliness… It would completely destroy your life.”

“That sounds… horrifying.” Shuichi murmured. 

“I can’t imagine why someone would be going after people like that…” Kaede said.

“Couldn’t it be a coincidence?” Shuichi asked. 

Rantaro shook his head. “Nah, Hanahaki is extremely rare. Like I said, the love you have to feel to attract the roots is insane. Most people don’t even love their parents as much as Hanahaki patients love the one that triggered their disease. I don’t think anyone I know even has the capacity to love to the point of Hanahaki.”

Shuichi’s head whipped to Kaede, expecting her to be offended by Rantaro’s last statement. But she only nodded. 

“I know I definitely don’t have that much love. I don’t really get it myself, but my cousin had it, and she was a constant wreck.” Kaede mumbled. “She was in love with her classmate who was dating someone else. The pain she was in… it was horrible to watch.”

“Is there a cure for the disease?” Shuichi inquired. 

“Sorta. Hanahaki follows a weird set of rules.” Rantaro answered. “The best case scenario, is that the love is returned. That can dispel the roots and cure the patient of Hanahaki. The patient can also get a surgery to have the roots removed, but that also destroys the love the patient felt for their special someone. Only one percent of Hanahaki patients do the surgery because of that.”

“Isn’t that the best option? You don’t have to deal with the feelings anymore, and you don’t have to die.”

Kaede laughed humorlessly. “That’s what I thought too, but that’s what makes us different from those who have it. My aunt wanted my cousin to have the surgery so bad, but she refused. She wanted to be able to care for the one she loved with all her heart until her death. Living on doesn’t matter to them if their feelings don’t exist.”

Shuichi didn’t know what to say. He was amazed that a disease like that even existed, but horrified at the cruelty. 

Then, his detective instincts started kicking in. Assuming that the killer targeted the victims specifically because of their disease, did they have some sort of grudge against the victim…

Or the disease itself?

Rantaro stood up and stretched, and then he put some money on the table. “Well, I hope we were some sort of help to you. We gotta blast, since my little sister has a piano recital and Kaede and I can’t be late.”

Shuichi watched as Rantaro and Kaede left, feeling a little sad. Well, there was nothing he could do. Trying to push the pianist out of his thoughts, Shuichi picked up the case file containing the Hanahaki victims murder, and he prepared to make a call to accept the job.


	2. Fine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I probably messed up somewhere when writing this chapter... so please alert me if there is a mistake somewhere, or a sentence that doesn't end. In other news, can everyone just please make more Oumasai fics? I need them in my life? Thanks.

When Shuichi walked through the door of class 79-A, it had seemed that all hell had already broken loose.

A short, purple haired boy named Kokichi Ouma had stolen one of Miu’s jetpacks, and was flying around the classroom with kaito’s coat, laughing as Kaito and Miu desperately chased him. Gonta was trying to stuff Ryoma into a bug cage, while Kirumi was trying to stop him. Angie was chanting out random things with Kiyo, Tenko, and Himiko, while Kaede, Maki, and Rantaro had a quiet conversation in the back of the room.

“You losers are so damn slow! C’mon, catch me!”

“Fuck you!”

“We sing our merry praise to you, oh Atua~”

“Gonta found big bug! Big bug for Gonta’s collection!”

“I’m not! A bug!”

“Gonta, your glasses…”

Shuichi’s entrance seemed to go unnoticed, which he was glad for. Without disturbing the chaos, he made his way to Kaede in the back. “Hey… how’s it going?”

“Saihara-kun!” Kaede exclaimed. “We were just talking about you!”

“Really, why-?”

Before Shuichi could get an answer out of them, their Homeroom Teacher busted through the door, screaming for everyone to be quiet. Kokichi reluctantly gave Miu and Kaito their things back. Angie, Kiyo, Tenko, and Himiko returned to their seats, with Kiyo looking extremely amused. After Kirumi had put Gonta’s glasses back on his head, Gonta finally realized that Ryoma was not in fact, a bug. Loud apologies filled the room as the rest of the students took their seats.

They went through their normal morning routine, but the teacher later shocked them with big news.

“For the next week, you will go on a trip to greatly improve your talents. I imagine most of you have gotten job offers and opportunities in the last month scheduled for this coming week, and this assignment would be why. By tomorrow, I expect you to all be on your way.”

“Ah! So that’s why I was offered a free climb of Everest!” Rantaro exclaimed.

Kaede clasped her hands together in excitement. “And that’s why I was suddenly asked to play at Carnegie Hall!”

Everyone talked excitedly about their offers. Shuichi himself had been quite surprised when one of the most famous detectives in Japan offered him to take the lead on a case of his choosing. The idea that he would be graded on his performance excited him even more.

“NASA wanted me to test a simulation!”

“I was offered to serve the Royal Family of Britain.”

“Gonta get to give opinion on new bug! Important bug, large beetle!”

Ryoma was going to train with an olympic team, while Tenko was going to teach a class at one of the most prestigious dojos in the nation. Angie got commissioned to paint an American celebrity. Korekiyo was going to take on the role of an Anthropology professor at a top university. Iruma was asked by the Japanese government to invent something that could predict earthquakes weeks in advance. Himiko was offered a spot as guest performer on a world-famous talent show, and Maki surprisingly enough gave many details on her newest job, saying that she was going to be a bodyguard for a billionaire in a distant country, watching her client from the shadows.

The noise in the classroom almost made Shuichi miss the fact that a certain boy in the back of the classroom had yet to tell anyone about his week. He threw in a comment here and there, pissing a lot of people off, and even getting on Shuichi’s nerves a little. But this was the kind of thing Shuichi thought Kokichi would thrilled to talk about. He loved bragging, whether the achievements he boasted about were true or not.

“Ouma-kun, what will you be doing?” Shuichi asked. He ignored the annoyed glances he received from his classmates.

“What? Why would the Ultimate Detective wanna know something about lil’ old me?” He asked, mockery lacing his words.

Everyone looked ready to kill him. “Dammit, just answer his question!” Kaito snarled.

Kokichi just laughed, his smile brightening with every passing second. “Well, if ya really wanna know, I’m going on a really fun expedition with my secret, evil organization. We’re going to wipe out a faction opposing us. No one’s allowed to stand in my way!”

“Liar.” Kaede muttered.

“Come on, Ouma-kun. Just tell the truth for once in your life. This week is supposed to be fun!” Tsumugi cried. Despite everyone’s efforts, Kokichi wouldn’t budge.

“You’ll just have to figure that out for yourself. I’m not telling shit to nosy losers like you guys.” He hopped out of his seat, an arrogant grin wiping away the innocent smile. “Aaaanyway, I’m going to leave now. Gotta make a phone call first. Be sure to look for me out the window.” He cackled. Then, he jumped onto his desk, leaping from table to table like a gazelle to escape the sea of angry students, before he flew out the exit.

“Of course he wouldn’t tell us. I believe he is getting meaner every day.”

“And you’re taking the brunt of his attacks, huh Kiibo?” Ryoma said, patting the robot’s shoulder. “Well, there’s not much you can do about a shit like him.”

“I’m done with that degenerate’s crap!” Tenko yelled, smashing her fists together. “We’ve put up with it for a year already, and I can’t take it any longer!”

“Even if it was something as simple as his plans for the week, Atua finds it unforgivable that Ouma must lie about everything.” Angie expressed. 

“Really, you would think the bastard would get it by now.” Kaito fumed, looking ready to kill. “If he keeps going like that, he’s going to be all alone. He’ll have no one in this class willing to be near him.” The astronaut looked Shuichi right in the eyes. “Right, Shuichi?”

Shuichi was taken back by his best friend’s harsh words, but he couldn’t help but believe it to be the truth. “Yeah, I agree.”

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Phone call? Yeah right. For the dramatic exit Kokichi had planned, all he needed to do was press the button on a remote hidden in his pocket. In all honesty, Kokichi didn’t want to leave just yet. He wanted to stay and talk with his classmates a little more, assuming they all didn’t hate him.

But the flowers had other ideas.

None of Shuichi’s actions or expressions escaped Kokichi’s eyes. The moment the detective turned to Kokichi with actual curiosity and wonder swimming in his eyes, Kokichi’s chest began to hurt. It was a miracle that he was able to leave the classroom before he started throwing up, but Kokichi hated himself for what he said to his friends. The pain was unbearable, and he ended up taking his pain out on his classmates. Why couldn’t he just keep his hate to himself? Oh, he had plenty of self-hate. But he couldn’t keep it to himself. And that’s what made him a monster.

Mistakes. Mistakes everywhere.

Kokichi wasn’t able to make it to the bathroom before the onslaught of flowers arrived to torture him, so all he could do was wait outside the classroom with a paper bag he prepared for emergencies, doing his best to quietly suffer as the bloodied petals destroyed his insides.

This also meant he heard everything his classmates said about him.

Yeah, Kaito was right. No, he had been right from the beginning. Kokichi had always been alone. He thought Shuichi would save him, but he ended up ruining that relationship a long time ago. 

When he heard Shuichi’s response, Kokichi couldn’t bring himself to do anything but smile. He was good at smiling things off. Smiling… and smiling… and smiling until his face hurt. He used to smile to make the people around him feel safe in his presence. After all, many cowered in the presence of a Supreme Leader. But his classmates interpreted his smiles as threatening gestures.

Now, he just smiled to convince himself that everything would be okay.

Shuichi hated him.

But everything would be okay.

Still shaking from the pain, both physical and emotional, Kokichi reached into his pocket, and he pulled out a small control pad with a single red button. He took off the protective plastic covering that kept him from accidentally pressing the button. With a trembling hand, he pressed the button, and he slipped the pad back into his pocket.

Kokichi took a deep breath, trying to wash the pain from his system. The emergency brown bag was blood-stained, and heavy with flowers. Kokichi stared at the bag with sad eyes. It was very rare for him not to make it to the bathroom before the flowers came.

‘I guess I’m just getting worse.’

Kokichi struggled to get to his feet. When he was finally able to stand without wobbling, a wave of dizziness almost caused him to fall back down. His vision was going dark. Severe pain flooded through his head, pounding inside his skull like a thunderstorm. When that was mixed with Kokichi’s existing throat pain and the torment each breath brought him…

Yeah, Kokichi was doing wonderfully.

He fought to keep his wheezing quiet as he staggered towards the trash can, disposing of the damning evidence that pointed towards Kokichi’s condition. He kept along the wall as he journeyed back to the door, which he opened with more effort than he expected.

“Well, look who’s back.” Kaito grumbled, looking ever-so-pleased by Kokichi’s return. Kokichi smiled brightly at the astronaut.

“Why hello there! Fancy meeting you here!” He sang, slowing his pace to hide the overwhelming weakness that coursed through his body. Nobody seemed to notice, which was good.

He endured their stares once more as he made his way to the windows. Using all his remaining strength, Kokichi pushed the window open.

“Ouma, what are you doing?” Shuichi asked cautiously. Kokichi stuck his head out the window, marvelling at how good the outside air felt against his cold, tear-stained skin. The sound of whirling blades cutting through the air reached Kokichi’s ears. Louder… louder… louder…

“Leaving.”

“Wha-”

Whoever was speaking had no time to finish their sentence. A large, black helicopter appeared next to the window, the door open. A man dressed in white with a checkered scarf set up a bridge between the window and the opening of the helicopter and the window, which Kokichi climbed onto.

“Ouma, what the hell?”

“Ouma has a helicopter!!!!”

The man offered Kokichi his hand. “Lord Ouma, I’m really sorry we couldn’t come earlier. We had to retrieve your hat.”

“You could’ve left it, but now I get to look like a badass on our way to HQ, so I’m not really complaining.” Kokichi chirped, getting into the helicopter safely. His subordinate placed Kokichi’s hat on his head, while another man in white and a checkered scarf draped Kokichi’s cape around his shoulders. 

In Kokichi’s perfect world, his classmates… no, friends, would be waving at him with big smiles and shining eyes. 

“Wow, Kokichi! That’s really cool!” That’s what they would say. And Kokichi would laugh and offer them rides. His friends would have a lot of fun, and no one would feel uncomfortable around him. They would laugh at his jokes. They would treat him like everyone else.

But his classmates just stared at him in shock. No one was smiling. This was the world of hate and resentment Kokichi had fashioned for himself. 

It was too late to change it. All he could do was make them hate him more. He needed them to hate him more!

Kokichi nodded to one of his subordinates, who would alert the pilot that Kokichi was ready to go. He let a faux smile creep onto his face.

“Later, sluts!” He shouted.

Another gust of wind burst through the open window of the classroom as the helicopter started to fly away. He looked once more at the faces of his classmates. Shuichi had come to the window, holding his hat and staring up at Kokichi with surprise. Something inside Kokichi did a flip.

He looked away.

The helicopter began its journey to D.I.C.E. headquarters, and his subordinates escorted Kokichi to his own small, private room… which left Kokichi alone with his thoughts

Kokichi’s work on Earth wasn’t done. He knew he would die soon, but there was so much more he had to do.

He needed his classmates to hate him.

His classmates were different from the thousands that made up D.I.C.E.. While he treasured every member of his secret organization, he was not their friend. He was their leader. But amongst his classmates, Kokichi wasn’t anyone’s leader. He wasn’t ‘Lord Ouma’. He was their equal. They were the first people that Kokichi wanted to make friends with. 

But he ended up betraying himself.

He projected his own hatred for himself onto them. He turned his apathy into lies, building up an image of a deceptive demon who lacked empathy. Any advance of friendship on their part truly scared Kokichi. And no matter how much he wanted to accept their friendship with open arms, his wall of hate shot them down.

Then, Kokichi fell in love with Shuichi, which made everything worse.

Getting Hanahaki disease told Kokichi that he wasn’t the empty shell he thought he was. No matter how much he lied to himself and others, he was still human. 

But what kind of human tore down others because they hated themselves? Kokichi wasn’t human. He was an apathetic, lying animal who couldn’t even look himself in the mirror without bursting into tears.

Kokichi wanted to wipe his existence from the Earth. D.I.C.E. could function without him. He would get them rolling, and then disappear, melting into a world of pain and flowers. All he needed to do was get his classmates to hate him, even more than they hated him now. Kokichi had just recently faced the fact that he truly cared for his classmates, and he would hate for them to actually mourn his death. Kokichi hated death. He hated the sadness that came with the passing of a human being.

So Kokichi would abandon his humanity. He would continue to annoy, prod, tease, and insult his fellow ultimates. When the day finally came where Kokichi choked on his petals, they would be able to continue on with their lives without shedding a tear. Shuichi… he wouldn’t have to be sad. Shuichi could pass off his death, forget him, and lead a life free of Kokichi. He would find someone to love, someone healthy who could look him in the eyes and make him happy without causing him stress. 

…

When the helicopter arrived at HQ, and Kokichi’s subordinate opened the door to Kokichi’s cabin, he didn’t seem to notice that the vase in the corner of the room had filled with bloody forget-me-nots.

Now that he was at HQ, Kokichi could no longer afford to be weak. His knees were about to give out, and his throat felt like it was on fire, but he was no longer Kokichi Ouma, the lovesick liar with no friends. He was Lord Ultimate Supreme Leader Ouma, the man in charge of thousands of lives. 

Kokichi smiled. Everything was going to be fine.

Kokichi entered the meeting hall with a flourish, making sure that his cape was fluttering just enough to make his entrance dramatic. The mammoth hall echoed with the cheering of his subordinates. From Kokichi’s elevated throne, the members of D.I.C.E. looked like a sea of white and black. Their enthusiasm grew the closer Kokichi got to his throne. When he sat down, the noise levels exploded.

Kokichi smirked at the shouting. D.I.C.E. was no normal organization. Everyone was friends… family.

Kokichi lifted his arms. “Guess who’s back, bitches?!!”

The cheering continued until Kokichi let his arms fall to his sides. “Sorry that I’ve been gone so long. Can the branches in America and Africa hear me? The first half of this speech will be directed to all the branches that my reports concern.”

“First up, I hear that we're getting a little violent in our handling with the outlaws and extremists. I need everyone to remember who we are. D.I.C.E. is not a group of primitive beasts who deal in force. We play mind games. Everyone here has been specially chosen to work alongside me to free the world from the confines of, well, stupidity. My advice to everyone? Don’t be an idiot.”

“On that note, I’ve decided that it’s time to start on Russia. We’ve been avoiding them for a long time, but today’s the day we’ll start infiltration. Japanese, American, African, and Australian branch members will be on this. I’ll be delivering the news to the Australian branch personally. The members who fit the role best will be transferred to Russia to create a mini-branch within the government, since Russia’s so freaking huge. I expect full internal domination within a year! Think we can do it?!”

The cries erupted again. Enthusiastic cheers and elated screams showing their full support.

“Lord Ouma! Lord Ouma! Lord Ouma!”

Kokichi waved his hand, signaling for the noise to die down. “Okay, American and African branches, this is goodbye. I’ll be visiting later this week, so be on the lookout!”

Kokichi turned back to the sea of D.I.C.E. members. He grinned evilly. “Now, I’ve gotten some interesting reports in the past month or two. Why the hell are people having sex in the hallways? I made a love hotel in HQ for a REASON, y'know!”

Laughter exploded throughout the halls. Some glared at each other, as if they knew the culprits responsible for such a report.

“I’d also like to give kudos to the team that calmed down a yakuza dispute last Thursday. I must say, I would’ve never even thought of using meme compilations, but I’m down.”

More laughter. Their laughter was like music to Kokichi’s ears. In his world of pain and suffering, it was the little things like this that helped him feel alive. Living, breathing and whole. It made him feel powerful.

After a few more minutes of jokes and announcements, Kokichi dismissed his crowd. The gathering of D.I.C.E. members filed out of the meeting hall to go do various things. Maybe they would go on a job. Some would make sure the companies under D.I.C.E.’s control were doing okay. Some would go to the banquet hall for food, and maybe a few would go to Hotel Kumasutra, which was not Kokichi’s proudest purchase, but it seemed to please his subordinates.

But Kokichi had business of his own.

His plan to infiltrate Russia might’ve been the project he chose to pursue for his Hopes Peak assignment, but his grades weren’t the only reason Kokichi was visiting the Japanese Headquarters of D.I.C.E.. He had a surgeon to meet. A peculiar, talented surgeon who would be predicting how long Kokichi had to live.

He navigated the labyrinth-like halls of the HQ, less and less people showing up as he made his way to the medical wing. Wherever he walked, the members of D.I.C.E. parted to let him through. But they usually tried to stay away from the medical wing. The doctors of D.I.C.E…. well. They were always looking for test subjects, which scared many away. But Kokichi kept going. The surgeon he needed to talk to was one of the only people in the world who Kokichi wholeheartedly trusted.

He finally reached the door, a thick, glass door with a nameplate on it.

Kokichi nodded to the men on either side of the door, flashing one of his brightest smiles before entering the room.

It was an operating room with white walls and cement flooring. Various tools, books, and equipment lined the room in an organized fashion. Typing away at a computer was a middle aged man with minty green hair and black eyes, wearing a white lab coat and a black scarf. Kokichi felt quite nostalgic when he saw the man’s face.

Dr. Naoki Suzuki turned to greet him. In a business like Kokichi’s, no one should be trusted, but Naoki had saved his life when he was nine, when what was supposed to be a game of wits turned into a shootout. After an experience like that, Kokichi felt like he had no choice. There were plenty of doctors who had allied themselves with D.I.C.E., but Naoki was the only one Kokichi let tend to him. 

He was, after all, the former Super High School Level Surgeon.

Alarmed by the opening of the door, Naoki turned to face Kokichi. A grin formed on his lips. “Well, look who’s back.”

“Nishishi…. Miss me?”

“Not a chance, you lying brat.”

They stared silently at each other, before breaking out into laughter.

“Come on, kid! Sit down!” Naoki urged enthusiastically, pointing to the operating table. Kokichi sat down and the two began to talk about various things- new members, D.I.C.E.’s various endeavors, and the impromptu leader that Kokichi had appointed when he went off to Hope’s Peak.

“Haru? Oh, he’s an idiot. He wanted to kill off the President of the United States and replace him with one of our guys. He would’ve too, if it weren’t for some of the senior members talking it out of him.” Naoki reported.

Kokichi laughed. “Nishishi! Why do you think I picked him? That’s hilarious!” He cocked his head. “Doesn’t he know D.I.C.E. controls seventy five percent of the United States government?”

“He must’ve forgot.”

“If you ever perform surgery on him, cut off his dick.”

“Duly noted.”

Their conversation went on like that, until Naoki finally dropped the bomb on Kokichi.

“That’s enough of that. Kid, I’ve known you long enough to know that you rarely ever come talk to me unless there’s some sort of business behind it. So, what’s up?”

Kokichi tried to build up his courage. Naoki deserved to know. And of he could help… then, that would be even better.

“I dunno how to tell you this, but I’m dying.” Kokichi deadpanned. Naoki rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, of course you are.”

“No, I’m not lying. I don’t want this to be a sobfest, so I’m just gonna tell you like we’re having a normal conversation. But, do you mind telling me how long I have to live?”

“Kokichi, what the hell is going on?” Naoki interrogated, his eyes narrowing. Uh oh. Naoki only called Kokichi by his first name when he was serious. When the mood what light, he was ‘Kid’. In front of crowds, he was ‘Lord Ouma’. When Naoki was mad… well… Kokichi at least knew that Naoki believed him.

“I… I think it’s Hanahaki. Y’know, that mythical disease that many pass off as fiction.” Kokichi answered honestly. “I’ve been spitting up flowers for months now. I’m feeling weaker… and… I don’t want to go into the details, but I just wanna know how much longer I have, okay?”

Naoki sighed, looking grim. “Idiot. Lie down and I’ll see what I can tell ya.”

Kokichi took off his shirt, lying down on Naoki’s operating table. The doctor poked and prodded him, took his temperature and heartbeat, and a lot of other doctor-y stuff that Kokichi didn’t care about.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, Naoki motioned for Kokichi to sit up.

“You’ve lost weight. If you don’t die from Hanahaki first, you’ll die of starvation.”

Kokichi looked down at his ribcage. “I don’t care about living, if that wasn’t already obvious.”

“No, it wasn’t obvious!” Naoki yelled. “You have a duty as the Supreme Leader of D.I.C.E., and I can’t let you throw away your life for the love of some stranger.” He grabbed Kokichi’s shoulders. “Four months. At most, you have four months to live. The Hanahaki roots have already wrapped around your lungs. It will take another month for them to grow, and then, at any moment, they could crush your lungs.”

Kokichi tried to laugh off the fear that crept into his heart. He tried to convince himself that he wasn’t afraid of dying… that he wanted to die, but it wasn’t working.

“Put on that hospital gown. That one on the hook. I’m doing the surgery right now.” Naoki muttered.

“NO!” Kokichi cried. “No, you can’t! I’m not doing the surgery. No, no, no, no!”

“Are you crazy?!” Naoki shouted. “If I don’t remove the roots, you WILL die!!”

“No. I’m not getting rid of my feelings.”

“This is no time to be selfish, Kokichi.” Naoki snarled. “I am your doctor, and it is my duty to keep you healthy-”

“NO!” Kokichi screamed. Get rid… Naoki wanted him to get rid of his feelings for Shuichi? Naoki wanted him to dispose of his love as if it were nothing more than a stupid virus? Was he insane? “I am not going through with the surgery. I command you, as the Supreme Leader of D.I.C.E to stop demanding me to do the surgery.”

Naoki looked like he wanted to argue, but Kokichi’s words made it so that he couldn’t. “Fine. At least let me give you some medicine.”

Naoki scribbled something on a prescription pad, before reaching into one of his many stores, retrieving a small, orange container.

“This’ll do it’s best to break down the flowers, but it’s in no way a permanent solution. It’s also extremely painful… so-”

“I’ll take it.” Kokichi murmured, taking the pills and stashing them away in his pocket.

“Now, go.” Naoki growled, returning to his computer. “If you don’t want to save your life, then I will be of no use to you. There’s enough medicine in that container to last you the rest of your life- which isn’t gonna be long.”

“I don’t fear death.”

“Then you’re lying to yourself.” Naoki challenged. “I’ve known you long enough to know that you’re the biggest liar on the face of the planet. But don’t joke around. This is your life we’re talking about.”

Kokichi didn’t respond.

“One more thing.” The doctor muttered. “I expect you to take one week off of school. Bed rest and food, and maybe something entertaining to take your mind of the one you love will be good for you. If the surgery is off the table, then at least take care of yourself.”

“Fine, whatever.” Kokichi sighed.

As he walked out the room, he could feel Naoki glaring daggers into his back. Yet, it wasn’t like the hateful looks he received from his classmates. It was full of sharp concern for his well being. No… if Naoki really cared, he would understand how much Kokichi cherished his love. But… what if… what if? They had already discussed that if something happened to Kokichi, Naoki would take over as Supreme Leader… so could the Ultimate Surgeon really be concerned for him? Was his playful, parent-like attitude towards Kokichi just a facade?

Kokichi was angry and afraid. He was confused and numb. All of his emotions had once again twisted into something that he couldn’t understand. He wanted to be hated, but he wanted to be loved. He wanted to be forgotten, but he wanted to be remembered.

He wanted to die… so badly, but he wanted safety. He wanted safety in Shuichi’s arms, where he could hide himself from the cold of his own raw hatred.

His throat began to burn. As it always did.The flowers were coming. His heart twisted with love as more and more fantasies of himself and Shuichi invaded his consciousness, sparking the horrible pain that would plague his body. But even as the suffering began once more, Kokichi found himself smiling.

Once he was dead, he would be free to love on his own, where the flowers couldn’t hurt him. Shuichi would be happy with him gone, and everything would be fine.

Everything was going to be fine.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kokichi’s exit was still fresh in Shuichi’s mind, even though it had happened hours earlier. . It was extremely over the top, and uncalled for… but there was something about it that had been bothering Shuichi. For a moment, he had locked eyes with Kokichi. In that window, Kokichi left himself completely unguarded.

It was so short. So short, that Shuichi still doubted whether it was real or not. But before Kokichi looked away, all he could see were streams of anguish and pain flooding from Kokichi’s eyes. It was enough to suck the air straight out of Shuichi’s lungs.

Then, it was over. Kokichi turned his back to his class, and the helicopter flew out of sight.

“So… does this mean Ouma-kun wasn’t lying about his big, evil organization?” Himiko murmured.

Kaito shook his head. “Nah, the little shit probably just rented the helicopter to screw with us. Doesn’t that sound like something he would do?”

Shuichi felt extremely uneasy about everything that had just occurred. “Do you really think Ouma would do that?”

“Hey, Shuichi- “

Shuichi turned to face everyone. “Sorry, but I’m going to be leaving early as well. I’d love to stay for the rest of the school day, but there is too much on my mind.”

And, well, Shuichi was now on a train. He wanted to get Kokichi out of his head, but as a detective, he noticed things. And there were many small, alarming clues from Kokichi that had been cultivating Shuichi’s worry.

There was the change in scent. Everyone in the class had a unique scent. Kaede smelled like marshmallows. Rantaro smelled like nice cologne and apples. Kaito smelled like leather, with a hint of bacon. As for Kokichi, for a long time, he smelled like grapes and clean laundry, but in the past few months, that had suddenly changed. Whenever they interacted, Shuichi noticed that he would smell sickly sweet, like flowers. There was also a more gruesome metallic smell mixed in, but Shuichi couldn’t quite make it out. Maybe this was nothing, but people’s distinguishing scents didn’t usually change in short periods of time.

Then, there was Kokichi’s attitude. If Shuichi didn’t know better, he would think Kokichi was trying to get everyone to hate him. Kokichi’s jokes and mischief had started to grow darker lately, and it was making a lot of people furious. Shuichi still had this lingering notion that Kokichi was a good guy at heart, so he pushed through the insults and offhand remarks… but he knew that many of his friends were at their breaking point.

There were other little things too, like how Kokichi seemed to be getting skinnier, and how much weaker his movements were.

And finally… the disappearances.

They were random… and very mysterious. Kokichi would ask to be excused, disappear for about five minutes, and then return. Sometimes, it was once a day. Other times, Kokichi didn’t ask at all, and other times, he would ask to be excused three or more times. It was after a ragged, weary Kokichi asked to be excused for the fourth time in one day that Shuichi decided the disappearances weren’t bathroom breaks.

When Kokichi would return, he would always smile, but he his body betrayed him. His hair and clothing were disheveled. He would look even paler, if it were possible… and Shuichi never missed Kokichi’s shivering. He looked like he had returned from a hike in the arctic.

Shuichi groaned, and fiddled with his hat. Why couldn’t he just focus on his official case? Why was his brain just thinking about Kokichi? He needed to clear his head. After he was done with his official case… then he could go back to thinking about Kokichi. There was something definitely wrong, and he was going to find out what.

The rest of the train ride, Shuichi was able to think about his case.

There was an escort waiting in the station for Shuichi. He took Shuichi to a car, and drove him to the murder scene. This wasn’t uncommon, ever since one of the other Ultimate Detectives at Hope’s Peak, Kyoko Kirigiri, was almost attacked on her way to a murder scene. It made her case much easier to solve, but Hope’s Peak decided to up the security ever since.

There were two murder scenes in this particular case. One was a small bookstore, where the owner, thirty year old Saburo Yamamoto, was found dead in the back room with a knife in his chest. The other victim was a twenty-two year old tourist, Mary Ann Lloyd. Her body was found in a public restroom with a knife in her chest, but Shuichi would be going to that place later. Both victims had knives in their chests, and both had lipstick marks on their cheeks.

Then, there was the fact that both had Hanahaki.

Shuichi decided that this particular clue would be the key to solve the case. He would need to learn more about that disease for sure.

But… was it really okay to just go off on his own, and ignore his suspicions about Kokichi? Sure, he really needed to solve this case, but the notion that his classmate may be suffering was much more important than his grade. 

No, Kokichi would be alright. Saihara knew by his smile.

Kokichi’s smile always made it seem like everything was going to be alright. Shuichi decided to trust that. For the rest of the week, he didn’t think once about Kokichi, as he buried himself in his work entirely. But there was no reason to worry.

Because everything was fine.


	3. Fake

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this universe so that not all students who attend Hope’s Peak live in the dorms. The students who do are mainly those who have no parents, don’t want to live at home, or their homes are too far away. 
> 
> Also, I feel like my writing style is getting progressively worse… ahhh. 
> 
> Thank you to everyone who comes back to read this garbage. I'll really try to improve my writing so that it doesn't seem so rushed every time. And sorry that it took so long for me to complete this. I was in a Saiouma trance for the past week, just reading tons of Saiouma to the point where my brain just said 'fuck you' and left. 
> 
> So that's nice.

Kokichi hadn’t grown up. That was something Naoki knew for a fact.

If anything, the only things that differed from Kokichi’s younger self were the leap in intelligence, and the idea that someone… somewhere, somehow, taught Kokichi how to love.

“Love is fake. People can say they love you all they want, but in the end, the only love anyone carries is love of themselves.”

That’s what Kokichi had said the first time Naoki and he had talked. They met when Kokichi had gotten himself shot when trying to converse with a yakuza. The kid had successfully convinced the yakuza’s entire clan to join his little organization, and the yakuza was not having it. Naoki didn’t learn this until many years later, but it still amazed him that a child would have the nerve to do such a thing.

But Kokichi Ouma was no ordinary child.

Naoki had stumbled upon the kid while walking down the street. He was lying in a pool of blood. Normally, injuries like Kokichi’s would’ve gotten any nine year old killed, but most nine year olds didn’t have the Ultimate Surgeon saving their life. Even if he had to operate on an old mattress in an alleyway, which made the bloody lump extremely prone to infection… oh, whatever. He survived.

It took Kokichi three days to wake up. Naoki wasn’t a stickler on payments- he just liked meeting new people. When the kid woke up, Naoki just wanted to have a nice conversation with the boy, find his parents, and then be on his way. 

Things didn’t go as he planned.

“Woooow! Nice place!”

The voice was weak and strained, but the cheeky sarcasm that made up Kokichi’s first words was enough to ruin Naoki’s mood. 

“What, are you some trust fund kid? Are motels not your speed?” Naoki muttered.

“Nishishishi! I’ve been in hundreds of motels, thank you very much. And, I recognize this room! My parents own this motel.”

“Really? Oh, then-”

“That was a lie.” The kid deadpanned, struggling to get out of the bed. “I have no idea where I am. Introductions? Mind telling me who you are, and how much you’re planning on selling me for?”

Naoki narrowed his eyes. This kid was really getting on his nerves. 

“My name is get back in the fucking bed, before I stuff your old, bloody bandages down your snarky throat. And how about a thank you? I saved your life, kid.”

The boy laughed, his eyes bright. He didn’t seem offended by Naoki’s harsh words at all. “So… you are selling me?”

Punching the kid seemed like a good course of action. Oh, Naoki really wanted to punch the kid. But he decided to go along with what he was asking. “My name’s Suzuki. I found you on the side of the street. I saved your life. Now, I’m pretty sick of your face, so tell your name, and where your parents are, and I’ll take you home.”

The kid didn’t answer right away. Naoki could see uncertainty in his eyes.

“I’m Ouma. Kokichi Ouma. I don’t have parents, but thanks for saving my life… I guess.” He let out a sigh, looking very uncomfortable. “Telling the truth is no fun. Anyways, how the hell did you find me?”

Naoki decided to ignore Kokichi’s statement about having no parents. The kid just probably ran away from home, right?

“What do you mean? I found you on the side of the road, covered in blood.”

Kokichi’s eyes went wide, and his expression turned from amused to frustrated. He started chewing on his thumbnail. “Dammit… guess that didn’t work out as well as I wanted it to.”

“What didn’t-”

“That is none of your business, sweetie pie.”

“You’re acting a little old for your age, you know that? Talking back to me? I just saved your life, and you’re giving me nothing but cheek! Do you have any idea how much work it took to keep you from dying?”

Kokichi blinked. “I don’t have much medical knowledge, but I’ve seen a few people get shot. I had to save one of my… friends, from a bullet to the leg. If you want a literal answer, you just have to plug the bleeding. Bandages... lots of bandages, and eventually, we took the bullet out.” Kokichi stared at his arm distastefully. “Yay… I get to have a bullet in my arm for another year.”

Naoki was speechless. He didn’t learn how to treat gunshot wounds until he was fourteen… and he was the Ultimate Surgeon! How did a kid know? Why would a kid know? Would a kid like Kokichi need to know?!

“You… aren’t a normal kid, are you?”

Kokichi smiled innocently. “Every wittle boy and girl is told that they’re a special snowflake! Oh boy, I feel special now, too!”

“You know what I mean.” Naoki scolded. “Kids your age are learning how to add fractions, not treating gunshot wounds, and certainly not getting shot. How the hell have you survived this long?”

Kokichi seemed to notice Naoki’s distress, laughing in response. 

“Luck? Beauty? The eighth wonder of the world known as moi has many virtues that aid in survival, my friend. Though, I like to think that I absolutely excel in, how do I put this, charismatic endeavors.”

“So basically, manipulation. Blackmail. I’m starting to get a feel for you now, kid.”

Kokichi feigned offence, dramatically placing his small hand on his chest. “Excuse me? Are you accusing me of evil? I am an upstanding citizen, and a contributing member of my community!”

“You’re like, what, ten? Nine? Upstanding citizen my ass. And don’t you live on the streets?”

“First off, watch your mouth, mister. And second, I never said anything about living on the street. Are you just assuming that I’m homeless, simply because I don’t have parents?”

“Pretty much.”

Kokichi smiled wide, feebly raising his arms. “I just so happen to have ten thousand subordinates working under me. They keep me safe and answer to my every demand. Under my command, we’ve taken over the world. I live in a palace!”

“Liar.”

“Nishishishi, you see right through me.”

“Did you really expect me to believe a kid like you?”

“You’ve believed a lot of things that I’ve been saying.”

Kokichi’s answers were pulling Naoki closer. He wanted to learn more. “Why would any sensible person follow an arrogant brat like you?”

Kokichi flashed him a sly smile. “It’s simple, really. If you follow my four-step patented process, even the meanest, ugliest brute can be trained to follow me.”

“Judging by the bullet lodged in your arm, your methods don’t work on everyone.”

Kokichi sighed, lying back down onto the bed. “I messed up. If I hadn’t been an idiot… oh, whatevs. I’ll snag them later.” Stars flashed in Kokichi’s eyes. “But seriously, seriously!!! It’s suuuuper easy! It also helps that I’m absolutely adorable.”

“You look like a fucking grape.”

“Stop using such language around a small child like me, mister doctor!” Kokichi snapped. “But you say that no sensible person would ever follow me? Why, sensible people are the easiest to train!”

“Really?” Naoki muttered. “Do tell.”

Suddenly, Kokichi’s expression warped into something… evil. Naoki would later become acquainted with these faces, jokingly calling them ‘nightmare fuel’. But seeing that horrible smile for the first time, and those evil eyes… the image would be forever burned into Naoki’s memory.

“Bait, hook, blackmail, repeat. For the normal people, blackmail isn’t needed. Kind people take interest in the fact that I’m an orphan. Greedy people take interest in my abundant store of goods. Homeless people take interest in my shelters. Talented people take interest in my intelligence. That’s the bait. Then, I hook them. My organization works towards world domination. When they hear this, and I show them all the businesses I’ve taken over and the work I’ve done, they’re hooked on my competence as a leader. They fall to my feet, their eyes taking in my fortune, and their hearts taking in my ideals.” The smile grew wider. “And of course, for those who don’t bend at first… hacking into personal files is a cinch.”

Naoki could hardly believe what he was hearing. 

“Why are you telling me this?” Naoki asked.

“Because I want you on my side.” Kokichi said. “You graduated from Hope’s Peak. I should know- I have some of your classmates with me already.” He ignored Naoki’s shocked screech. “Besides, I knew from the moment I saw your face that you were someone who could only be swayed be the truth.”

“You tricked my old classmates-?!”

“Not tricked, silly goose!” Kokichi giggled. “I simply egg them on towards success. You’ve probably never heard of my organization, but we’re growing! As long as they listen to my commands, they’ll survive. Being an organization as successful and evil as mine has consequences, y’know.

Naoki snapped.

“Pretending to be some loving parent…. are you? Manipulating these people’s lives for your own self interest, before you throw them away and leave them to die?

The temperature in the room seemed to drop.

“Like you said, I’m a child. I can sway opinions, and gain followers, but I will never be a parent. And just so you know, love is fake. People can say they love you all they want, but in the end, the only love anyone carries is love of themselves.”

“So you admit it? You admit that you don’t care about your followers?”

For the first time, Naoki felt the full, brutal force of Kokichi’s piercing purple eyes. They were absolutely devoid of any childlike innocence, yet they radiated determination, hatred, and a melancholy longing that Naoki didn’t overlook. 

“Maybe I do, maybe I don’t. You’ll never know. But I can tell you this- the only one who will die under my rule is me.”

‘The only one who’ll die under Kokichi’s rule… is Kokichi himself?’

What had Kokichi been through? What drove him to say such things? Questions like these flew through Naoki’s mind as he slowly, unconsciously succumbed to the undiscovered talent of the Ultimate Supreme Leader.

In the end, he agreed to Kokichi’s ridiculous invitation. He avoided the Supreme Leader at first, but he slowly warmed up to Kokichi. 

Naoki would often return to that conversation when he needed to discern Kokichi’s lies. Kokichi telling the truth was quite rare, after all. But… that one line always bothered him. It seemed so, well, out of place, like it was something Kokichi had been waiting to say all his life. And it was so genuine, as if the idea that love was fake was at the core of Kokichi’s beliefs.

Kokichi had no idea how much his followers truly loved him, yet he only saw his follower’s love towards him as nothing more than a business-like respect. 

Naoki knew… no matter how much Kokichi told himself that he would never love, he truly loved his subordinates… his family. Naoki, and the rest of D.I.C.E. were all Kokichi had. Naoki knew that Kokichi wouldn’t fit in with his classmates at Hope’s Peak. It was a dilemma that could’ve been prevented, but Kokichi didn’t know how to make friends. He knew how to manipulate, and at most, make enemies.

And now… Kokichi had Hanahaki disease. The love that triggered the deadly flowers of Hanahaki was nothing like friendly love. It was an intense, harsh longing. Naoki could hardly believe that Kokichi Ouma, the child who had never believed in love, could ever learn in such a short time.

So, how did this happen?

Who in the world stole Kokichi’s heart?

Who was killing Kokichi?

No, in the end, it wouldn’t matter. Naoki had a plan. The medicine he had given Kokichi would provide the Ultimate some relief, but at the end of the day, the pills were monitors, crafted to monitor Kokichi’s health. The moment the monitors detected a fatal attack, Naoki would be notified with Kokichi’s status and location. Naoki would rush over, and perform the life-saving surgery on Kokichi’s lungs. Kokichi’s orders meant nothing to Naoki, if it meant he could save Kokichi’s life. 

Many things could go wrong, though. If the attack was strong enough to knock Kokichi out, he could go to work. But if Kokichi ever woke up, Naoki would be forced to stop the surgery. Naoki needed Kokichi asleep, and unable to give any more commands. 

Being a subordinate to the future King of Earth was confusing.

But Naoki wouldn’t trade it for the world. That was the power of the Super High School Level Supreme Leader.

That was the power that Naoki lived to serve.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Kokichi’s week went by much quicker than he would’ve liked. In fact, it was one of the best weeks Kokichi has had in awhile. Once. Only once did his Hanahaki act up. The rest of his time was spent free of pain. 

He traveled the world, visiting different hideouts that were littered across the Earth. There was a lot to prepare, and after the week ended, Kokichi couldn’t help but feel extremely satisfied in the work he had done. 

There was always that horrible little voice that liked to remind Kokichi that he wouldn’t live long enough to witness D.I.C.E.’s takeover of Russia, but most of the time, Kokichi was able to muffle it by burying himself in his work.

Unfortunately, Kokichi’s days of prescribed rest were starting. There would be no distractions to help him.

Kokichi could have always just ignored Naoki’s suggestion, but he owed the doctor a little respect. Kokichi knew that Naoki often threw away his pride to fight for Kokichi’s well being. Even if it hurt, even if it was absolutely agonizing, Kokichi vowed that he would try to get some rest… even if he knew the efforts were futile. 

And so, the first day of Kokichi’s resting period began. 

He had curled up in his bed, the sheets cold from lack of use. Even though he had piled blankets onto his body, his skinny frame wasn’t helping him get any warmer. His room didn’t have a heater, and even if it did, Kokichi doubted that it would be much help. Kokichi himself was bundled up in a fuzzy bear onesie that usually made him smile. But the playful face that had been stitched onto the fabric did nothing for Kokichi’s spirits, and the material’s warmth couldn’t break through Kokichi’s freezing skin. 

Creaking noises and yelling could be heard. It was time for school, which meant frantic preparations in the Hope’s Peak Male Dorms. Not many lived in the dorms. There was a grand total of fifty rooms, but as far as Kokichi knew, only six, excluding himself, actually called the dorms home. Gonta and Ryoma from Kokichi’s class, and from the other grade levels were Teruteru Hanamura, Nagito Komaeda, Mondo Oowada, and that weird Ultimate Imposter guy who switched identities every month. With all those conflicting personalities, and only one kitchen in the dorms, mornings were a nightmare. Kokichi would usually get up early to grab something quick (that was most likely junk food) so he could escape the morning rush. He knew that, because of that, no one would notice that he never left his room.

Kokichi couldn’t help but wonder what life would be like if Shuichi lived in the dorms. Maybe Kokichi wouldn’t be so quick to leave. He would stay with Shuichi for breakfast, while eagerly listening to every detail of Shuichi’s long stories of his past cases. 

Actually… no. Shuichi would push him away, wouldn’t he? Even if Shuichi did live in the dorms, he would probably avoid Kokichi as much as he could. 

No.

Nonononono.

Mere seconds later, Kokichi found himself in the fetal position, breathing heavily as blood-soaked flowers scratched up his throat, filled his lungs, and tumbled out of his mouth. He hadn’t realized that he was thinking about Shuichi again until it was much too late. Naoki’s medicine didn’t help the pain. The amount of flowers seemed to decrease, but the pain he was feeling had been kicked up a notch. Really? The medicine didn’t help with the pain at all?

The rest of the day passed like that. Kokichi only left the bed to use the bathroom and throw get new bed sheets, as the old ones were thoroughly stained with blood. He didn’t eat. He didn’t talk with anyone. He just suffered.

“Kokichi? It’s Gonta! Gonta wanted to know if Kokichi was doing good? Why Kokichi not come to class?”

School must've gotten out. Kokichi was much too tired and much too weak to even speak. He didn’t answer.

“Hey, Ouma. Just give us some sign that you’re in there.” Ryoma’s voice said. Once again, Kokichi stayed silent. He heard the doorknob rattle a few times.

“Gonta no can open door.”

“Break it down.”

“No! Gonta no can do that! Entering room with no permission is not like gentleman!”

“Damn it… well, okay.” Ryoma sighed. “We know he’s back from his week-long assignment, but where could he be?” The Ultimate Tennis Pro’s voice faded as he and Gonta walked away. 

Kokichi sobbed silently into his pillow. Why did they care? Why did they want to see him? He was too drunk on pain and weariness to think rationally. His first day of “rest” ended in a wet pillow, and his delicate heart confused and exhausted. 

Sleep never came easily for Kokichi. It took hours before he had finally wore himself out to the point where he couldn’t keep his eyes open. Nightmares woke him up repeatedly, but he was able to find his way back into the dreamworld.

The next day was almost exactly the same. Kokichi suffered through the disease, wondering if the rest day was actually helping at all. Gonta and Ryoma came by again, asking for him to show himself.

“He’s got to be in there!” Ryoma growled.

“Maybe Kokichi sleeping?” Gonta wondered.

The third day came, and Kokichi was at his limit. Naoki had said that Kokichi had four months left, but with how Kokichi was feeling on the third day of a supposed rest week, Kokichi wouldn’t have been surprised if he dropped dead at any second. He hadn’t slept since his first night, and he hadn’t ate in days. All his thoughts were either self-loathing or centered around Shuichi. Shuichi holding his hand, Shuichi playing tag with him, Shuichi sitting in his throne, Shuichi giving Kokichi a big, warm hug, that was warmer than any sorry blanket. Shuichi insulting him, Shuichi telling him that he was worthless, Shuichi swearing to himself that he would never look Kokichi in the eyes ever again.

That thought alone was enough to trigger a Hanahaki attack lasting five minutes.

Nobody except Shuichi looked Kokichi in the eyes.

What would Kokichi do if he stopped?

“Hey… it’s Ouma, right? This is Komaeda. Gokuhara-kun asked me to deliver you food. I made some soup for you. I can’t guarantee that it’ll be good, but Gokuhara-kun seems very worried that you aren’t eating.”

Komaeda, huh? Kokichi wondered where Gonta and Ryoma were. Oh well. Kokichi really didn’t care who came. They shouldn’t be caring. Why were they caring?

After he was sure that Komaeda was long gone, Kokichi pulled himself out of bed. Every step hurt, and each breath sent fiery pain throughout his entire body. The last thing Kokichi wanted was food, even if his stomach felt otherwise. But he didn’t want to die yet. He needed to see Shuichi one last time.

Kokichi retrieved the soup left out in front of his door. In the end, his stomach wasn’t quite used to the amount of food Kokichi was trying to consume, so half of the bowl ended up uneaten. In fact, the bowl of soup looked almost the same from when Kokichi had started. Feeling defeated, Kokichi put the bowl outside his door.

The fourth day was the worst. 

All Kokichi could think about were his own selfish desires. He took refuge in his own fantasy world, which brought him joy and pain in intervals. He would imagine a life where he held Shuichi’s hand as they walked through the hallways of Hope’s Peak. He would think about how wonderful it would be if he could kiss Shuichi’s soft lips, and touch his beautiful face. He fantasized a scenario where Shuichi could return Kokichi’s love, and those gorgeous eyes of his would look at Kokichi with love instead of doubt.

Then the pain came. Loads of beautiful pain, falling off the side of the bed.

Kokichi imagined a world where Shuichi and himself were married, ruling over D.I.C.E. side-by-side. Kokichi imagined Shuichi’s eyes lighting up with joy at the sight of him. He imagined himself giving Shuichi love-filled handmade gifts, and Shuichi showering him with kisses after a long day of work.

More agonizing, raging pain.

Fresh, bloodied forget-me-nots surrounded the withered bouquet that sat shamefully on the floor. Kokichi could never bring himself to throw it away. He used to love how those flowers looked. He used to love their smell, and their soft, smooth texture. 

It was always the beautiful things that brought him pain.

A hungry, sleep-deprived, weak Kokichi decided on the fifth day that he would go to school. He needed to see Shuichi’s face. Naoki wouldn’t mind. After all, Kokichi was positive now that Naoki had been lying about how much longer Kokichi had to live. With the amount of pain Kokichi had suffered when he was supposed to be resting… Kokichi was sure if he was losing his mind.

It took Kokichi a while before he got out of bed. Every movement was torturous, but Kokichi could endure. He was going to see his beloved Shuichi! There was no pain he couldn’t take if a prize that great was waiting for him. 

He decided to take a shower, which was a horrible idea. It was the first time that Kokichi really got a look at how much his body had changed since getting Hanahaki. The way his skin was stretched over his ribs, making it so that he could feel each individual bone as he ran his fingers over his torso. He stood in front of his mirror, completely nude, with hair dripping from the shower. He had rubbed his skin red while trying to get rid of the flowery smell that hung around him like a cloud. Kokichi let out a small laugh. Hanahaki simply refused to go away.

Kokichi dried his hair, then he went straight to putting on his clothes, not even noticing how his hair didn’t stick up like normal. Even if he had noticed, he wouldn’t have cared. His appearance didn’t matter anymore. All that mattered was seeing Shuichi. He shut the door on his dorm room, not caring if he died before making it back.

What happened from there… well, the only thing Kokichi had going for him after that…

Death.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
The week of improving talents had ended, and although Shuichi successfully solved his case, the final conversation he had with the culprit had taken a part of his innocence that he would never get back.

The killer was a middle aged woman, and from the moment Shuichi laid his eyes on her, he knew she wasn’t healthy. She looked like a scarecrow, with dry bleached hair, stick-like limbs, and skin so horribly pale, Shuichi found it hard to believe she wasn’t a corpse already.

And… she had Hanahaki disease.

He kept his hat low over his eyes, desperately trying not to see the flowers tumbling out of the woman’s mouth. He could not shield his ears however, and he was forced to listen to her agonized screams. The room smelled of flowers and blood, a smell that was hauntingly familiar, but Shuichi couldn’t quite place it.

“I was putting them out of their misery-” The woman snarled, her words cut off by another wave of lilacs. “These flowers are fucking CRUEL!”

“You could have always gone through with the surgery.” Shuichi whispered. “If you’re suffering, then-”

“FUCK YOU!” The woman yelled, her voice raspy. “I refuse to let my love be removed!”

“Then why did you kill those others-”

“Because they deserve to love freely.” The woman cried, tears flowing out of her eyes accompanied by broken sobs. “Everyone who gets these horrible flowers aren’t free to love without pain. Everyone who gets it is a good person, but the disease-” More flowers fell to the floor. “-MAKES US SUFFER!”

The woman in front of Shuichi looked less like a murderer, and more like a tiny child left alone. It was the most terrible scene Shuichi had ever taken in.

The woman kept on begging for a death sentence. She wanted to die. This woman, who had more love than Shuichi could ever offer, wanted to take her own life.

He left the detective agency crying.

The train ride home was hell. All Shuichi could do was think of that woman’s pain… and the many lives that must’ve been destroyed through it’s wrath. 

Oh god… what if one if Shuichi’s friends got the disease? The thought of Rantaro, Kaito, Maki… or even Kaede suffering that much… 

He had started crying again. 

At least their chances of getting the disease were almost nonexistent. After all, Rantaro and Kaede were already dating, and Shuichi had seen the way Kaito and Maki looked at eachother. There was no chance of unrequited love in either of their cases. But what about the others? If any of his classmates were suffering that much, Shuichi didn’t know if he could take it. Terrible images of his dear friends shaking from pain with flowers tumbling out of their mouths plagued Shuichi the whole way home. 

What if one of them was suffering, and Shuichi didn’t know? What if… one of his friends loved someone so much… that they were dying? If that ever were the case, Shuichi swore to himself that he would do everything in his power to save them.

Shuichi disembarked from the train, a new thought coming to him. What about Kokichi? Shuichi knew something was wrong with the Ultimate Supreme Leader, but he wasn’t doing anything about it. 

He promised himself, that the next time Kokichi excused himself, Shuichi would learn where he was going.

Unfortunately, the opportunity never came.

Shuichi was too preoccupied to notice at first. When he came to class on his first day back, everyone was much too busy talking excitedly about their weeks. Then, when Shuichi turned to ask how Kokichi’s week went, he was greeted by an empty seat. The rest of the day felt strangely empty, as if Shuichi had missed something crucial in his daily routine. Shuichi Saihara was a man of routine… and he rarely messed up.

So why was he feeling so weird? Did Kokichi’s strange absence have to do with that feeling? Or worse, did the absence have to do with all the weird clues pointing to a possible problem with Kokichi? 

Shuichi found himself growing worried. He asked Gonta and Ryoma, who lived in the dorms, to check on Kokichi before he went home.

Even when he was alone, all he could think about was the dread gnawing at him. The fact that Kokichi didn’t show up was bad enough, but the idea that Shuichi messed up something in his day… god, what was it? And would Kokichi come to school tomorrow?

The next day, Kokichi didn’t show up again. Gonta and Ryoma reported that Kokichi didn’t answer when they tried to talk to him. Shuichi’s heart pounded faster. He knew Kokichi was there, so why didn’t he talk? Kokichi wasn’t the kind of guy to just flat out ignore someone. The second day went much like the first, with Shuichi growing more and more distracted by the disappearance of the Ultimate Supreme Leader, and more and more annoyed by that feeling that his habitual routine had been destroyed.

The next day was very unusual, and completely exhausting.

“We don’t think Ouma’s eating.” Ryoma stated. “You hear every creak in those dorms, and Ouma hasn’t opened his door once. The only food in the whole place is in the kitchen, and no one has seen Ouma at all.”

This was alarming. Especially since Kaito had gathered the entire class in the early morning to watch the landing of a spacecraft. How could Ryoma and Gonta check on Kokichi if they were miles away? Who would be there to help Kokichi if he died of hunger? Oh no, Shuichi had to do something.”

“There no need to worry! Gonta ask friend to give Kokichi food! Kokichi will not starve.”

That statement from Gonta saved Shuichi from a heart attack. But that didn’t stop Shuichi from worrying for the rest of the day. He could hardly focus on his own friends anymore. Kokichi took up Shuichi’s every waking moment. 

Could the reason Kokichi was losing so much weight be because he hasn’t been eating? Shuichi almost dismissed the idea, since he had known firsthand that Kokichi was no light eater. When the dining hall served chocolate cake to the students on the head cook’s birthday, Kokichi ate an entire cake by himself, smiling the entire time. Though, there were the times where he ate almost nothing… but that was only after he seemed particularly down.

What could this mean?

On the fourth day, Shuichi realized what had been messing up his routine.

And as always, it was Kokichi’s fault.

It felt wrong not to have the boisterous supreme leader around. Kokichi’s absence left a large hole in Shuichi’s day that Shuichi himself didn’t quite understand. Sure, observing Kokichi had always been interesting. Ever since he came to the conclusion that Kokichi was lying to everyone about his true self, Shuichi had fun watching Kokichi’s actions and listening to his remarks, no matter how cruel his words were. 

Even if fake Kokichi was rude and annoying, Shuichi still found himself missing the Ultimate Supreme Leader.

Shuichi never felt so bad when one of his other classmates was absent, so what made Kokichi so special? And...

When would he come back?

It wasn’t until Friday, after four days of being gone, that Kokichi returned. But his return didn’t happen right away.

 

Class had started. The teacher was talking about the assignment for the day, but Shuichi couldn’t bring himself to listen. His focus was being pulled to the empty seat behind him, belonging to the Ultimate Supreme Leader. Shuichi couldn’t remember a time that Kokichi- no, anyone had been gone this long. As for Kokichi? Well, sure, he had been excusing himself from class a lot lately, and he’s ditched certain classes in the past, but he still had perfect attendance. Now, he’d been gone for almost a week, and the chalk that up to a cold? Something was definitely suspicious.

After who knows how long, the teacher dismissed the class to lunch, leaving the classroom. Shuichi was much too busy developing theories to notice.

“Saihara…”

But seriously, what could it be? Could his absence have something to do with the amount of times he’s left class? If so, what had Kokichi been doing outside of the classroom?

“Saihara-kun…”

He would always leave with a smile, but something about that smile had always bothered Shuichi. Kokichi looked as if he were in pain. When the Supreme Leader came back, Shuichi would have to excuse himself to go where Kokichi went-

“Shuichi!!!”

Shuichi snapped out of his trance to find Rantaro, Kaede, and Kaito yelling at him. “Wha-?”

“You’ve been starin’ at Ouma’s seat all fucking day. What’s goin’ on?” Kaito interrogated, picking up Shuichi’s open notebook. “Look, you haven’t even written anything down!”

“Really, Saihara. You shouldn’t be worried about a guy like Ouma.” Rantaro insisted.

Shuichi blanched. “How did you know I was worried?”

“It doesn’t matter!” Kaede scolded. “You’re wasting your precious time. Besides, haven’t you noticed how nice and calm these past days have been? This is paradise!”

Kaito and Rantaro nodded in agreement, igniting a fire in Shuichi’s belly. “What do you mean…?” He whispered, feeling betrayed. “This is our classmate we’re talking about! Sure, Ouma-kun is annoying, but he’s had perfect attendance since we first started at Hope’s Peak! You want me to pass off these absences like they’re normal?”

“She’s not saying they’re normal, Shuichi!” Kaito argued. “That little bastard’s just playing a trick on us. He wants us to get all worried and fawn over him, and then he’ll pop up, fresh as a daisy, and laugh in our damn faces.”

Shuichi shook his head. “No, that can’t be it! I’ve been sending Gonta and to check on him every day, and they say that he hasn’t once left his room since coming back!”

“How do you know he even is back?” Kaede countered.

“Because Gonta and Ryoma saw him. Apparently, his helicopter dropped him off right in front of the dorms. They said that he made a beeline for his room, and that he hasn’t left since.” Shuichi said. He shuddered at the thought of a sick Kokichi huddling in his room, lonely and in pain. Or maybe, something horrible had happened in Kokichi’s personal life. Whatever it was, Shuichi wanted to be there for him.

“Well, he could be leaving while they’re at school.” Rantaro suggested. 

“Do any of you believe in Ouma-kun?”

Kaito took a deep breath, placing his hands on his hips. “No, we don't. Nobody believes in Ouma at this point. All his lies, all his bullshit, I’m sick of it. It amazes me that you could still believe in that brat. I guess that goes to show how kind you are. But in the end, it angers me even more to think that Ouma is taking advantage of your kindness for his own mischief.”

Shuichi wanted to counter, but he couldn't. All the evidence… all the clues he had found pointing towards there being something wrong with Kokichi… had it all been wrong? Had he been caught up in Kokichi’s web of lies? No… that was impossible, right? Shuichi knew that whatever front Kokichi was putting up, that mean personality was not real. On top of that, the evidence… the evidence suggesting that Kokichi was in trouble was scary. It was scary, and real, and Shuichi just had to uncover the truth of it all. He needed to uncover the truth behind Kokichi’s sickly sweet smell, and the times he excused himself from class, the the weary looks, and the weight loss, the pale skin, the growing attitude, the long, four day absence that was about to turn into a five day absence and no one, no one had any clue what was going on because they all hated Kokichi Ouma-

Was that all fake?

“You’re overreacting, Saihara-kun.” Kaede coaxed. She held out her hand to him. “We’re going to go to the dining hall now. Do you want to join us?”

“C’mon! Don’t get so hung up on the lying shit!” Kaito laughed, slapping Shuichi’s back. “We’re your friends, remember? So stop thinking about stuff that doesn’t matter!”

“Yeah. Ouma’s just joking around. He’ll come back soon. There’s so need to panic, so have fun with us.”

Kaede, Kaito, and Rantaro’s smiles seemed so reassuring. Was it true? Was it true that he was panicking over nothing? Was it really true that everything he had learned about Kokichi was just…

Fake?

Maybe it was. Yeah, maybe it was. There was nothing wrong with Kokichi! Shuichi’s friends wouldn’t lie to him. Kokichi was probably just playing a prank on everyone. He would come back soon, and Shuichi’s routine would be complete again.

Shuichi took Kaede’s hand, leaving his worries behind him as he headed to the dining hall with his friends.

Looking back on it, Shuichi hated himself for being so easily swayed. He should’ve trusted his detective work. He should’ve been smart enough to piece things together. The sickly sweet smell of flowers. Kokichi not eating when he wasn’t happy. The disappearances in class. The lies. The taunts. The mocking and ridiculing. It all fit together like puzzle pieces. Even Shuichi’s own feelings of Kokichi being apart of his routine would find themselves placed in the puzzle. 

But after a week of worry, the reassurance from his friends was what Shuichi needed. If only he had worked harder. If only he had endured it longer, he would have revealed the truth of his friend’s suffering much quicker. He would have revealed it before anything happened.

But something did happen. In front of his eyes… in front of everyone’s eyes. The truth hit them like a truck. The truth changed everything.

Shuichi had returned to class feeling much better. He opened his notebook, ready to take notes on whatever the teacher was going to lecture them on. He wasn’t going to let fake things distract him any longer. Shuichi was able to keep this up for a good hour.

That was, until class was interrupted.

The door opened. It was horribly slow. No one saw who was opening the door for quite some time. But when the door was opened, Shuichi could hear the blood rushing in his ears.

It was Kokichi.

At the same time, it wasn’t Kokichi. The Kokichi that the class knew would always greet the class with a smile when he walked in. He would also fire off a few comments that sent a few students after him. But whoever it was that walked through the door… well, they didn’t say a thing.

Kokichi’s clothes barely fit him. His beautiful, shiny purple hair, that always seemed to defy gravity, had deflated, completely devoid of any of its former luster. His skin was almost translucent, which helped the prominent dark circles that hung beneath his dead eyes pop out. Kokichi’s movements were so slow, weak, and un-Kokichi-like, that Shuichi had almost been entirely convince that the boy who walked through the door wasn’t Kokichi at all.

But it was. Shuichi just knew it.

“There you are, Ouma. The headmaster says you… had… business to take care of? That’s quite vague, isn’t it?” The teacher questioned.

Kokichi gave a weak smile. That sweet smell hung around him, triggering a spark in Shuichi’s brain. He knew that smell. That metallic, sickly sweet smell. But from where?

“Yeah. Supreme Leader stuff.” Kokichi said. His loud voice had shrunk into a raspy, painful whisper that was barely audible.

“Is Kokichi sure? Gonta thought Kokichi sick?”

“T-that’s silly… Supreme Leaders d-don’t get sick.” Kokichi murmured. He finally reached his seat. When he sat down, his eyes latched onto Shuichi.

Oh… that’s where Shuichi knew that smell from. But… could it be? He needed to think more. He needed to think!

Shuichi stared at Kokichi’s face, taking in every detail. Everything was falling into place. But with every piece of the puzzle, Shuichi’s heart grew heavier with horrible dread.

He didn’t notice how watery Kokichi’s eyes became.

Questions from everywhere in the room shot at Kokichi like bullets, but Shuichi didn’t hear them. The disappearences made sense. He knew exactly why Kokichi had been absent. He knew… he knew everything.

But it was too late.

He snapped back into reality just in time to watch Kokichi Ouma, the Ultimate Supreme Leader, the most mysterious person Shuichi had ever met, burst into tears.

“Saihara… chan…”

That’s when it happened.

All the panic, dread, anxiousness, and fear that had been building up in Shuichi’s heart exploded as Kokichi fell out of his seat and onto the floor. A terrible hacking sound filled the room as Kokichi threw up flowers… and more flowers. His tiny body shook like an earthquake. Everyone shot up from their desks, huddling around Kokichi with terror in their eyes. They all knew what was happening. But not a single one could believe it.

No one… except for Shuichi.


	4. Friend

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait!
> 
> This trash fic is coming to an end! Just one more long-ass chapter of life-or-death to go!
> 
> Also, I'm sorry that I'm not really responding to comments. Even online, I get intimidated when I talk to other people... so... I really appreciate every single comment, and they all make me really happy! I'm just bad at talking.

As the Shuichi’s world whirled and flipped, he found himself thinking back to his and Kokichi’s last full-fledged conversation. It was three weeks ago.

 

“Why would you do something like this to yourself?” Shuichi asked, bandaging Kokichi’s finger. Kokichi had been trying to show him something called the knife game, but had injured himself in the process. Shuichi’s heart was still racing from the panic he felt when he first saw blood rushing from Kokichi’s hand. 

 

Kokichi laughed. “If I didn’t do it, I would have killed you! You should be thankful that I forfeited our little game, Saihara-chan. If I hadn’t…” Kokichi’s eyes glinted dangerously. “Well, you would be dead.”

 

Shuichi knew that the little dictator was referring to the time when he told Shuichi he would have to kill him to pay for the information he had learned about Kokichi’s supposed “evil organization.” His friends never believed this, but Shuichi sometimes liked to entertain the idea that Kokichi was, for once, telling the truth. But did he believe the lies Kokichi was saying at the moment? Definitely not.

 

“You just slipped up.” Shuichi argued.

 

“Supreme Leaders don’t slip up!”

 

Shuichi sighed deeply. “You should stop playing that game. You could really hurt yourself. Then, the school would have tons of paperwork, and I would have to explain to your parents how you died trying to convince me of some fictional organization.”

 

Kokichi laughed louder. “Yeah, they would hate that! They love me lots!” Suddenly, all of the humor washed away from his face, and he stared at Shuichi with a blank expression. “That was a lie.”

 

“Wha-”

 

“Juuuuuuust kidding!” Kokichi giggled, pulling his hand away from Shuichi’s grasp. He held his palm up in the air, admiring the bandages encasing his finger. “Wooow! Saihara-chan’s good at this! You would make an awesome husband, y’know!” Kokichi exclaimed. 

 

Shuichi couldn’t help but laugh at this. “Are you mocking me?”

 

“Maybe! The world may never know!” Kokichi’s voice started to become weaker and raspier, but Shuichi ignored it. It was probably from all of his needless shouting, after all.

 

Then… something happened. 

 

Kokichi pulled him into a warm hug.

 

“Thanks for keeping me safe.” He whispered. Before Shuichi could react, Kokichi let go of Shuichi, placing his hands behind his head. “Kiddiiiing! Supreme Leaders don’t need to be kept safe! I sure do lie a lot, Saihara-chan. I should stop! Well, thanks for hanging out with me! Bye bye!”

 

Shuichi still hadn’t said a word as Kokichi raced away from him. He was extremely confused, and his head was spinning, but he felt light as air.

 

And very cold.

 

But as Shuichi stood in his classroom, watching as the same warm, confusing Kokichi who had hugged him a few weeks ago threw up blood and flowers onto the classroom floor, He felt colder than ever.

 

He should have never let Kokichi let go of his hand.

 

On that day, when they learned of Kokichi’s disease, Kokichi slipped from his fingers. The class was changed forever. And… it was the day that Shuichi would recognize as the day his heart was shattered.

 

Kokichi had long since been removed from the classroom. A wild-looking doctor with long mint-green hair and wearing a checkered scarf had sped through the door only moments after Kokichi fainted. He had brought a horde of men and women in white clothes and checkered scarves, who all claimed to be from Kokichi’s secret organization. The doctor was waving around a buzzer, which was vibrating in his hand, while screaming “It went off! It went off!” None were holding weapons, but the sheer animosity that radiated off of Kokichi’s underlings made it clear that anything they requested of the class was not up for negotiation.

 

Everyone was silent as the doctor performed a quick check up on Kokichi’s seemingly lifeless body. He turned to the group that followed him in.

 

“I’m gonna do it. The surgery.” He growled, picking up Kokichi bridal style. One of the men narrowed his eyes in response. 

 

“No you can’t! I was guarding your door when you and Lord Ouma talked about that, Doctor. He specifically ordered you not to go through with-”

 

“If you wanna be such a smartass about it, then you can take my position after I’m kicked outta D.I.C.E.. For now. I’m saving Lord Ouma, and you can try to fucking stop me.”

 

Before the doctor could leave, another man walked into the classroom. It was Jin Kirigiri, the headmaster of Hope’s Peak. He went up the doctor and placed his hand on the doctor’s shoulder. “I understand that you’re scared, Naoki, but you must calm down.”

 

“Calm down? My leader is about to die, and you want me to calm down?!” The doctor cried, clutching Kokichi’s body tighter. “You shitheads said you would look out for him! Obviously, you haven’t been! You haven’t!”

 

The headmaster seemed to ignore the doctor’s last comment. “Waiting outside is the Super High School Level Nurse, Mikan Tsumiki. She will direct you to the operating room- your old research lab. Please keep a level head, since you are about to perform a risky surgery on one of my students.”

 

“I’m the Ultimate Surgeon, asshole. I’ve successfully executed the  Spinal Osteomyelitis Surgery in the back of a van while hungover, so I think, just maybe, I can handle some  _ fucking hanahaki _ .” And with that, the doctor pushed through the headmaster and out of the door. The headmaster let out a weary sigh before sending a piercing stare towards Shuichi and his classmates. “I’m taking your teacher with me to my office, so I’m placing Tojo-san in charge. No student is allowed to leave this classroom.” He made a swift exit, followed by the teacher and the people in white. 

 

Then… everything was silent.

 

No one knew what to say or do. The only one who seemed to be able to function properly was Kirumi, and that was simply because she was upholding her duties as a maid. She cleaned the blood and flowers off the ground and made tea for the class. But the look of shock and fear that she seemed to be trying to hide did not go unnoticed by Shuichi.

 

As for Shuichi himself…

 

The tension in the room was suffocating. Shuichi grabbed a fistful of his jacket, trying to stabilize his emotions. His stomach churned as the image of Kokichi huddled on the ground reappeared into his head. Pure hatred for himself burned in his heart, with every passing second adding fuel to the flames. Kokichi would’ve been okay if he had just connected the dots sooner.

 

And he called himself the Ultimate Detective…

 

Shuichi would’ve probably sunk lower into the depths of self-loathing, if it wasn’t for a certain robot finally breaking the silence.

 

“Uh… I placed a tracker on that doctor guy.” Kiibo said, looking very uncomfortable, but determined at the same time.

 

“Kiibo, what the hell?!” Miu cried, shedding her shell of sadness and replacing it with an aura of anger. “Those tracking devices weren’t cheap to install, and you go putting it on some random doc without my permission?!”

 

“Look, I only have limited information on this Hanahaki disease that Ouma supposedly has-” This caused most students in the class to tense up. It was almost as if they were trying to forgot that Kokichi had Hanahaki in the first place. It was… like they were trying to forget that Kokichi was human.

 

“-But from the data I possess, I can clearly tell that, as Ouma’s classmates, we should be there to help him get better.

 

“Kiibo, you can’t just tell someone with Hanahaki to ‘get better.’” Shuichi murmured solemnly. “The only way Ouma-kun can survive is if the one causing the Hanahaki falls in love with him.”

 

If Shuichi’s classmates weren’t already uncomfortable, this statement surely made them squirm. The idea of someone falling in love with the demonic asshole that was Kokichi Ouma was impossible. He was going to die. And… it dawned on them that they just saw the Ultimate Supreme Leader for the final time.

 

Shuichi should’ve felt the same, but he had long dismissed the possibility of Kokichi being as bad has he seemed. He had finally accepted that Kokichi’s presence affected his life in ways he still didn’t understand, but he missed the dictator horribly. 

 

He needed to make sure that he saw Kokichi again.

 

“Kiibo, how exactly does the tracker work?” Shuichi asked. 

 

Kiibo seemed to brighten at the question. “I’m glad you asked!” He tapped on his lips. “The tracker Iruma-san initially installed was for spying. When the person I’m thinking of right now, which is Kokichi, starts speaking, then I will switch into speaker mode. I’ll begin recording the entire conversation, while playing the conversation live from the speaker in my mouth. That way, if Kokichi wakes up, we’ll be able to hear what he says.”

 

A spark of hope ignited in Shuichi’s heart. ”That’s-”

 

Before he could finish what he was going to say, Maiki interrupted him. “-A waste of time.”

 

Shuichi stared at her in horror. Why would she say such a thing.”

 

“Kiibo, why do you care about Ouma?” She objected. “He’s done nothing but mock you and 

“Ouma said that he doesn’t care about anyone, which we now know was a lie. He also said that he nobody cares about him in return, but by the way that doctor and those freaks in white were acting earlier, we know that that was also a lie. That, or Ouma doesn’t know how much they care. Maybe Ouma isn’t who we think he is. Sure, the prick’s a lying shit, but that doesn’t mean we can just give up on him, right?”

 

Maki’s expression softened. “Yes… I guess you’re right.”

 

Kaito smiled wide. “Then it’s settled! Kiibo, whenever you’re ready, please play the audio!”

 

Kiibo smiled weakly. “Well of course, nothing’s gonna happen until Kokichi wakes up, but-”

 

Suddenly, Kiibo seemed to shut off. Miu and Tsumugi rushed to his side, but moments later, he turned back on. His eyes had static, but he didn’t seem broken. In fact, his speakers were working just fine… except they were speaking in Kokichi’s voice.

 

“-Not doing the surgery. No way in hell. Were you going to do it while I was asleep?”

 

Kaede’s eyes filled with tears. “He sounds so tired.” She murmured.

 

The doctor’s voice spoke next. “Yes. I sure was.”

 

“That medicine wasn’t really medicine, was it?” Kokichi whispered.

 

“Some aspects of it were supposed to elongate your lifespan, but it’s main function was as a monitor. Anytime you were about to have a really bad attack, I would rush over and do the surgery.”

 

A loud crash could be heard through the speaker. “I KNEW it!” Kokichi yelled, his voice strained and cracking. “There’s no other way you’d be able to get her this fast!” There was a pause, and then Kokichi spoke again. “Naoki… are you just gonna betray my trust every time I tell you no? I even entrusted the position of Supreme Leader to you after I die, and you betray my orders… again?”

 

“I only don’t do what you say to help you, Kokichi.” Naoki scolded. “I’ve saved your life thousands of times from betraying your orders. You’re too selfish.”

 

“Selfish? SELFISH?! I’m risking my life on the daily to keep D.I.C.E. safe! I go into dangerous territories just to expand our organization! And you call me selfish-”

 

“EXACTLY my POINT!” Naoki screamed. “You’re gonna die in days, weeks, who knows, and all you’re doing is killing yourself! You’re giving yourself no time to enjoy life! You dismiss us and the rest of D.I.C.E as mere bystanders, and you can’t understand how much we CARE!!!”

 

“NOBODY CARES ABOUT ME!” Kokichi cried. Kokichi’s declaration echoed throughout the classroom, breaking the hearts of every student in the room. Those words had become common knowledge amongst some of Kokichi’s classmates. But to hear it straight from the source?

 

That was something completely different.

 

“You…” Naoki sniffled. “I’ve taken bullets from your body. I’ve done surgery on your heart when you overworked yourself. I kept you from  **killing yourself** after you broke down from school. If I didn’t care, you wouldn’t be here in this room with me. Please… stop saying that no one cares for you. Please… please…”

 

The doctor’s quiet sobs flowed through the speakers. 

 

“I… I c-can’t believe that.” Kokichi wept. “If people cared for me, they would smile at me. They would look me in the eyes. I wouldn’t be alone all the time!”

 

“That’s your own fault, Kokichi. I’m sorry to say it. But all the lying you’ve done isn’t good for you. See this conversation we’re having now? See how you’re telling the truth, and we’re getting our emotions out? I may be a surgeon, but I have some psychological training. This is good for you.”

 

Kokichi’s voice seemed to be getting weaker. “I hate telling the truth.”

 

“I know, but right now, I need the truth from you. We also need to get some things straight. First, many people care for you. You just need to let them in. Stop guarding your emotions all the time. Second, I betrayed you because I want you to live. Many people want you to live-”

 

“Not. True.” Kokichi growled. 

 

“Shut up, everybody loves you. You’re Kokichi fucking Ouma, you hear me? You bought a love hotel for your followers because they asked for it. That was two million dollars that you willingly spent for something as weird as a love hotel. If people don’t love you after that, then, then…whatever! People like you. Deal with it.”

 

Kokichi let out a small laugh. This laugh was different from the mocking laughter that Shuichi was used to. It was genuine. 

 

It was really cute.

 

Naoki laughed along with him. “Continuing on, I want to do the surgery on you more than I can say. You’re a good person, with a good heart. Sure, your life has been fucked up, but the fact that you love someone so much… that you’re willing to die to keep those feelings… you’re amazing, Kokichi. I want you to live. I want you to spread the love you learned from Hanahaki to everyone else in the world. That’s what D.I.C.E. is for, right? To spread love to the world? To make the world laugh? To unite them under this stupid checkered scarf?”

 

“That was the plan.”

 

“So… I know that whoever you’re in love with, they would be lucky to have you. Now that you’re awake, which I did not see coming, I can’t do the surgery on you without your permission.

 

“...”

 

“Kokichi?”

 

“I’m sorry. I can’t.”

 

Shuichi’s breath hitched at the answer. Why? Why couldn’t Kokichi go through with the surgery? Who the hell was so important, that Kokichi couldn’t survive? Anger burned in his stomach as Kokichi reappeared in his thoughts, shaking on the ground. Who was giving him all that pain? Shuichi found himself hating someone that he didn’t even know.

 

“It’s just… the one I love… they’ve been so good to me. They’re the only person my age who looks me in the eyes.”

 

“What’s the deal with you and eyes?”

 

“You can tell if anyone is lying through their eyes if you look hard enough.”

 

“I learned that a long time ago. It’s the way that I was able to figure out that you didn’t want to die.” The doctor assured. 

 

Kokichi’s voice grew quieter. “And I still don’t.”

 

“Then do the surgery! I’m sorry for trying to force it on you, but it’s the only logical path! You’re a person of logic, so why can’t you just… do it?”

 

“I already told you why.” Kokichi answered. “Besides. I’ve done all this work to prepare for my death. It would be a shame to just let it go to waste.”

 

“What do you mean?

 

“From the moment I found out that I had Hanahaki, I decided to distance myself from everyone who could possibly come to like me. Sure, teasing and pranking is tons of fun, but I’ve been working overtime to ensure that anyone who would be sad about my death won’t be.”

 

Everyone’s attention was diverted from Kibo’s speakers as a loud bang echoed through the room. Kaito created a fist-sized hole in the wall. He looked absolutely furious.

 

“This brat…”

 

The smashing of Gonta’s bug cage between his strong hands also added to the noise. “Gonta… doesn’t understand. Why Kokichi do that? Why Kokichi want Gonta’s hate! Gonta never hate Kokichi!”

 

Naoki’s voice cracked with emotion. “Even if you think that… I would be sad. You’re ten fucking thousand followers would be devastated. And no matter how much you try to make your fellow students hate you, you are someone who’s been by their side for a year and a half. Of course they would be sad.”

 

Every single one of Kokichi’s classmates agreed to this statement, but Kokichi was not convinced. “No… no you don’t get it. I treat Kiibo like he’s not human. I call Iruma a cumslut and a whore. I mock Kaito just to make Maki mad. I’ve hurt them all so bad, don’t you understand?” Kokichi cried. “And sure, at first it was light and funny and all for laughs, but I’ve already gone to the point of no return. I’ve turned  **cruel.** Anyone who wants me to live is either too nice for their own good or a fucking idiot.”

 

“Is that all I am to you? An idiot?” Naoki roared. “Dammit… You destroy others when you lie, and destroy yourself when you tell the truth. If you stopped thinking so aggressively all the time, maybe we’d actually get somewhere instead of going in circles. Listen, up, because I’m tired of playing nice. You obviously don’t respond to “nice.” You have at least a month until you die if you don’t go through with the surgery. That’s more than enough time to go up to the ones you’ve hurt and repair relationships. That’s plenty of time to go up to whoever you love, and tell her that you love her. Even if she doesn’t give you a chance, you can spend your final days knowing that you’re surrounded by people who care for you, instead of denying this obvious fact and sulking around like an emo grape.”

 

“Of course, I’m the Ultimate Surgeon. So I will do everything in my power to make sure you live. But at they end of the day, I’m still your subordinate. The monitors in your body will become useless in an hour, so I won’t be able to rush to your side again if you have another attack. This is my last chance to save my leader’s life. If you refuse the surgery, I’ll have no choice but to back away. But I won’t fucking give up. As long as I’m here, right now, I will do everything I can to convince you.”

 

…

 

…

 

…

 

“No. That’s my final answer.” Kokichi murmured. “I can’t go through with it. Thank you for trying. This talk has made me feel a bit better… but I just can’t do it. I treasure these feelings of mine more than I can say.”

 

Shuichi could feel his heart rip into pieces.

 

Kokichi was going to die.

 

“Are you sure?”

 

“Yeah. I’m sure.”

 

….

 

“So… what will you do now?” Naoki asked.

 

“Well, I’m discharging myself from your little hospital. Tell the headmaster that I’m dropping out. Then… who knows.”

 

“Try to visit us at the Japanese HQ as soon as possible.. But are you going to leave without telling your classmates goodbye?”

 

“It’s better that way.” Kokichi whispered. “I don’t feel like lying right now. It’s just not coming to me. If I talk to them, I may let something slip.”

 

“Don’t you trust them?” Naoki asked.

 

“With my life? No. A few have already tried to kill me. But if any of them ever decided to trust me… then maybe I would rethink that stance. Of course, it’s a little late for that.”

 

The sound of the door opening came through the speakers. “I’ll be going now. Goodbye, Naoki.”

 

“Wait!” The doctor shouted. “This person that you love… who is she?”

 

“I’m not telling you.” Kokichi giggled. “You might do something stupid, like, you might try to convince them to fall in love with me. But they don’t work like that. Besides… they’re in love with someone else.” His voice grew soft and warm. “But… they make me so happy… you have no idea. They deserve a life without me.” The door creaked again.

 

“Kokichi! I wouldn’t do that! I just want to talk to her! I want to know her opinions on you… and I want to know what you were like when you weren’t talking to me. Maybe we could get her to join D.I.C.E., and-”

 

“Hey look! You’re playing the nice guy again. But no dice, Naoki. Besides.”

 

“ _ He _ would never join a criminal organization.”

 

And the door shut. 

 

Kiibo’s eyes returned to normal, and his mouth closed. 

 

Shuichi had seen movies where shocking revelations were followed with silence from the receivers. Then, the protagonists would work through their shock to form a plan to save the day.

 

But nobody in Shuichi’s class was having that.

 

“He’s still in this building, right?” Kaito exclaimed, guilt and horror plastered onto his honest features. “Imma chase after him! We need to help him! C’mon, c’mon!”

 

Maki looked beside herself. “We need to find him!”

 

“Hold on, we can’t 

 

“Holy shit Ouma likes DUDES!” Miu screeched. 

 

“This is definitely not the right time for that, Iruma-san!” Kaede retorted. 

 

Out of all of them, Shuichi was the one who should be calming everyone down and formulating plans. He was the Ultimate Detective, after all. Plans were second nature to him. 

 

Shuichi Saihara was a man of routine. He woke up at the same time every morning, and acted out the same, repetitive patterns tham comforted him. He used the same methods when it came to investigating, and kept a constant, neat grasp on his surroundings. 

 

Shuichi Saihara… was a man of routine.

 

Shuichi Saihara was a planner.

 

Shuichi Saihara was heading for the door.

 

“Saihara, where are you going?” Ryoma questioned. 

 

Shuichi ignored the Ultimate Tennis Player’s question, as he slammed the door on his classmates. 

 

His thoughts were a mess. He saw the pale, bleached-blonde woman throwing up flowers as she cried. He saw Kokichi, whispering his name before he fell to the floor. He thought of every time Kokichi excused himself from class. He heard the words he had spoken to Kokichi during their first year.

 

_ “I don’t know why, but I feel like this isn’t the real you.” _

 

Shuichi felt the same emptiness that he did when Kokichi first disappeared. He felt the same rush of awe from when Kokichi had left school in his helicopter. He saw the flash of pain in Kokichi’s eyes that had left as soon as it came.

 

He felt his hands wrapping around Kokichi’s finger, as he bandaged Kokichi’s cut. The warmth of Kokichi’s hug enveloped him, and left him cold afterwards. 

 

“You would make an awesome husband, y’know!”

 

Suddenly, he smelled something sweet. Sickly sweet. Kokichi was nearby.

 

Shuichi started running faster.

 

He needed to go faster. Kokichi could be dying, no, he was dying, and Shuichi was not about to let Kokichi slip through his fingers again. He was not going to ignore Kokichi anymore. 

 

The long hallways of Hope’s Peak Academy twisted and turned like a labyrinth, but Shuichi couldn’t afford to make a wrong turn. Kokichi couldn’t have gone far from the medical lab, right? Shuichi swallowed hard and kept running. He didn’t care that his legs hurt. For once in his life, he ignored the stares from the other students as he rushed past.

 

The smell was getting stronger.

 

And stronger.

 

He was so close. 

 

Until… he found himself standing in front of the third floor janitor’s closet. He could hear sobbing coming from inside, accompanied by painful gagging noises and ragged breathing. Shuichi was almost scared to open it.

 

But he did.

 

There, in the closet, was a small, broken boy, surrounded by hundreds of forget-me-nots. Blood ran down from his lips, and tears filled his eyes. 

 

For a short, dreadful moment, Shuichi thought the boy was beyond saving.

 

Then, the boy looked into Shuichi’s eyes.

 

“What’s the deal with you and eyes?”

 

“You can tell if anyone is lying through their eyes if you look hard enough.”

 

Shuichi saw pain and agony. But he also saw a sliver of hope. Somewhere, in the boy’s heart, he was waiting for someone to save him… he was waiting for someone to give him a chance. 

 

Kokichi Ouma was suffering. But he didn’t want to die.

 

“Ouma-kun…” 

 

“S-Saihara-chan?”

 

Shuichi fell to his knees, pushing away the forget-me-nots, and taking Kokichi’s small body into his arms. Kokichi was cold. Shuichi needed to fix that. He needed to save Kokichi.

 

He needed to save him…!

 

“Saihara!” Shuichi heard Rantaro and Kaede coming from behind him. They must have followed him. But when they saw Kokichi, they broke as well.

 

“Oh my god. Oh my GOD, Ouma-kun!” Kaede cried. She and Rantaro got on their knees, both shaking with emotion. “We need to get him medical attention!”

 

Rantaro looked lost. “What can we do?” He murmured. Shuichi didn’t respond. He held Kokichi tight, afraid that if he let go, Kokichi’s light frame would crumble into nothingness. He could feel the bones from Kokichi’s torso and back digging into his skin.

 

“There’s only one way to help him.” Kaede whispered. “We need to find out who it is that Kokichi is in love with. And fast.”

 

Yeah. They did. And if Shuichi needed to travel the world to do it, he would find who Kokichi loved. He would convince them… he would convince them to save Kokichi. He wasn’t sure why he wanted to do this so bad.

 

But with each violent shake of Kokichi’s body, Shuichi’s resolve hardened.

 

He would do this. He would do it…!

 

Because Kokichi was his  _ friend. _

 

**-Investigation Start-**


	5. Family

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello friends! Before you read this, I have a few announcements.  
> \- I understand that Tenko and Angie speak in third person, but I played the English version before the Japanese version, so hearing them talk like that just doesn’t work for me. They’ll be talking normally here… sorry. :/  
> \- There are some people who hate OC’s in fanfiction, but I had a scene planned out in here that I absolutely needed to write, but no character from the Danganronpa universe fit the role. So I made another OC. They barely have a presence, so for those who hate original characters… please bear with me.  
> \- I’m adding some of my own rules to the hanahaki disease. If you are familiar with the disease, these additions should be easy to spot. But I just wanted to spice things up a bit.  
> \- The formatting in this is positively fucked up, and I didn't know how to fix it... sorry.  
> \- Finally, there will be a huge announcement at the end of the chapter. :D :D :D
> 
> Btw, this chapter is over 100 pages long, so buckle up. Anyways……. That’s it! Have fun reading!

**Prologue**

Kokichi had passed out on Shuichi’s back as Shuichi carried him back to the classroom. Kokichi had protested when Shuichi picked him up, whimpering and trying not to throw up over Shuichi’s back, but he soon passed out again, his arms slumping over Shuichi’s shoulders. Rantaro had offered to help Shuichi carry Kokichi, but the detective declined. It was truly alarming… how easy it was to carry the sleepy Supreme Leader. He was lighter than air, and Shuichi could feel his ribs digging into his back.

 

As they made their way back to their classmates, Kaede and Rantaro walked ahead of him, occasionally looking back to check on how he was doing. Kaede looked especially worried, but Shuichi kept on reassuring her that he would be alright. Thinking back on it, Shuichi hadn’t thought about his crush in a while. It seemed to have faded…

 

No, there was no time to think about that. Shuichi needed to focus on Kokichi.

 

When they reached the classroom, they were immediately bombarded by their classmates who all looked as worried as they did.

 

“Is he okay? Did you find him?” Tsumugi cried.

 

“He looks terrible… what they hell do we do?” Ryoma groaned.

 

“Bring him here, and I’ll see what I can do.” Kirumi instructed. Ever the maid, Kirumi had already set up a workspace in the back of the classroom, complete with a makeshift bed for Kokichi, rags, water, aspirin, and all sorts of things that could keep Kokichi comfortable. Shuichi set Kokichi down on the bed, and Kirumi went to work, setting a damp rag on Kokichi’s head and checking his temperature.

 

An uncomfortable silence followed Shuichi, Kaede, Ranatro, and Kokichi’s entrance.

 

“Nyeh… what do we do now?” Himiko whispered.

 

“We’re going to save Ouma-kun’s life, right? If we want to do that, we have to start by finding out who it is that Ouma-kun loves.” Kaede announced.

 

“Atua says to ask Ouma himself. Should we wait until he wakes up?” Angie offered.

 

Kaede shook her head. “No, that wouldn’t work. Ouma-kun’s out cold, and he needs to rest. Also, he and that doctor guy seemed pretty close, and he wouldn’t even tell the doctor his secret. What chance do we have of him telling us?”

 

“That makes things a lot more difficult.” Rantaro sighed. “Not only do we have to consider everyone who attends Hope’s Peak, but anyone in Kokichi’s organization could also be our mystery person.”

 

“That’s 10,000 possible candidates.” Korekiyo deducted. “Even if we try to sift through them, Ouma could have fallen in love with anyone he’s ever interacted with. We know nothing about his personal life, and we cannot be sure if the few likes and dislikes he’s presented us with are even truthful. How can we make an educated guess with nothing to go by?”

 

Shuichi tore his gaze away from Kokichi’s sleeping face to answer Korekiyo’s question. “We have to investigate.”

 

“Investigate? Like, record fingerprints and shit?” Miu scoffed. “Not all of us are detectives, !”

 

Shuichi barely even heard Miu’s insult. “Not exactly. We need to dig deeper into Ouma-kun’s life, and uncover the real personality that he’s been hiding from us. We need to interview people who know him, learn more about his organization, all to get to a point where we can narrow down a list of possible people.”

 

The class seemed to agree with Shuichi’s reasoning. “That’s my sidekick! So, where do we start?” Kaito asked.

 

“I believe we can exclude anyone from Ouma’s organization. Do you remember what Ouma said while talking to his friend? He said that the one he likes would never join a criminal organization.” Kirumi spoke, pouring tea for Kokichi.

 

“Ooh, good memory, Kirumi-san!” Kaede enthused. “That makes things a lot easier.”

 

Maki nodded. “I believe that we should still go find the organization anyways. Any sliver of information could save the brat’s life, and they’ve known him longer than we have.”

 

“That’s true. I’m surprised you’re so into this, Harukawa-san.” Korekiyo admitted.

 

Maki’s expression hardened. “You heard what Ouma said. All that crap about trying to make us not mourn his death. I don’t like being fooled. I want to know the real Ouma. If that means I have to destroy the entire world trying to find his organization’s headquarters, then so be it.”

 

“Now that you mention it…. D.I.C.E., was it?” Tsumugi wondered. “They’re a top-secret organization. How do you expect to find it?”

 

Shuichi decided to step in. “We could split up. There are other things that need to be looked into if we want to know everything we possibly can about Ouma-kun. If we want to know his crush, we have to know Ouma-kun first.”

 

“Those who aren’t afraid to get their hands dirty should come with me to find the HQ. I’m guessing the organization is affiliated with yakuza and gangs that are sworn to secrecy about the HQ’s location, so combat skills are a must.” Maki announced. “And no, Hoshi, you’re not coming. Do you want to go to prison again?”

 

Ryoma shrugged. The guy still had a parole officer… there was no way he could go on a mission as dangerous as finding D.I.C.E.’s Headquarters.

 

Surprisingly enough, Tenko raised her hand.

 

“I’ll go.” She offered, shocking the entire class. No one thought she would even lift a finger in helping Kokichi. “Hey, what’s with all the looks?”

 

“You hate Ouma almost as much as Harukawa-san… today has been full of surprises…” Kaede said.

 

“When you love someone, you’re willing to do anything for them… even throw away your life.” She sent a smile in Himiko’s direction. “Even if all that lying was stupid, idiotic, and absolutely pointless, Ouma deserves a tiny, microscopic amount of respect for his feelings. Because of that almost nonexistent respect, I will accompany Harukawa to try and save his life.”

 

Himiko looked unbelievably proud. “She’s actually helping a degenerate male…”

 

Maki nodded in Tenko’s direction. “Thank you. If possible, I would like to have one more person…”

 

“Kiibo’s going!” Miu announced, much to Kiibo’s surprise.

 

“Excuse me? That is a terrible idea!” Kiibo cried. “You should know better than anyone that I have the strength equivalent to a strong senior citizen, and I have absolutely no combat functions installed-”

 

“Wrong. You’ve got a cannon in your left arm.”

 

“I- wha- I have a WHAT?!!” Kiibo screeched. “When did that happen?”

 

“Yesterday.”

 

“You said you were fixing my glitter cannons!”

 

“Yeah, well, now they’re canon canons!” Miu cackled, looking extremely pleased with herself. “Go on, champ! Blow shit to pieces! Blow a dick if ya have to!”

 

“Do not force Kiibo to do anything shameful with a degenerate male!” Tenko growled.

 

“I guess that settles things. We should leave now.” Maki said, walking out of the classroom without saying goodbye.

 

“Take your phones, everyone. I would like to be able to contact you.” Kirumi instructed.

 

“No, no no no no! This does NOT settle things! I want my glitter back!” Kiibo protested wildly, but his cries were met with silence, as Tenko did her best to coax the poor robot through the door.

 

Rantaro sighed deeply. “…That was cruel, Iruma.”

 

“Hey, I’m just doing what anyone with fucking sense would do. The moment I woke up with glitter between my tits-”

 

“We can’t lose focus!!!” Shuichi shouted, directing all attention towards him. What the hell were they doing? It was like they had forgotten that Kokichi was dying right next them! “We’re moving on.”

 

“May I make a suggestion?” Kirumi asked. “I don’t know much about Hanahaki as a disease. It would help if we could have a team try and research other ways to prolong a Hanahaki patient’s life while the investigative teams gather clues.”

 

A picture of the blonde killer throwing up flowers in front of Shuichi popped into his head. “It also seems that every Hanahaki patient has a different flower. I recently met a person who suffers from the disease, and she threw up lilacs and roses. Meanwhile…” Shuichi swallowed hard. “Ouma-kun has forget-me-nots with rose petals. I was wondering if the flower created by a patient could possibly correlate with the one they love?”

 

“The library has a few books on the subject. I remember seeing them in the anthropology section at the beginning if the year, though I’m sure the medical shelf will be full of them too.” Korekiyo offered. “Perhaps myself and some others could head there and do some research there.”

 

“Oooh, can Atua and I come?” Angie asked, her hand raised in the air. “Atua says the library is where I should be today.”

 

“That should work perfectly.” Shuichi affirmed. He didn’t like the idea of sending Angie alone with Korekiyo, though. Everyone in the class knew of Korekiyo’s history, and no one was sure if the serial killer thing or the… sister thing was scarier.

 

Fortunately, he wasn’t the only one.

 

“Actually, can I go too? I’m quite curious about Hanahaki, and I would love an excuse to research the subject.” Tsumugi said, her eyes darting between Angie and Korekiyo. Okay, that worked. Normally, Shuichi would be much more comfortable if someone like Gonta accompanied Angie, but in the right cosplay, Tsumugi’s skills with a blade were on par with some of the Ultimates.

 

“I don’t see a problem.” Korekiyo deadpanned.

 

“Wonderful! Just let me stop by my research lab really quick, I need to change into something more appropriate.”

 

Suddenly, Kaede lit up like a light bulb. “The research labs! Rantaro-kun, what research lab does Ouma-kun belong to?”

 

Rantaro thought for a minute before answering. “Oh yeah, he’s apart of the Leader’s Lab in the basement. I believe the Ultimate Yakuza, the Ultimate Affluent Progeny, and the Ultimate Princess also belong to the Leader’s Lab.”

 

“Then we should go there, too!”

 

Shuichi couldn’t believe that he didn’t think of this. Every student at Hope’s Peak was assigned to a research lab with other people who shared a similar talent. Shuichi himself belonged to the Detective’s Lab, a paradise for aspiring detectives that he shared with an upperclassman, another detective named Kyoko. He knew Kaede belonged to the Music Lab, which she shared with The Ultimate Idol and the Ultimate Musician. She was often complaining about how their music styles clashed, but those three were great friends, as were Shuichi and Kyoko. Your lab partners at Hope’s Peak would be at your side for the entirety of your time at Hope’s Peak, and many lab partners were closer than they were to their own classmates.

 

Unfortunately, Shuichi couldn’t imagine Kokichi ever getting close to his lab partners.

 

“Byakuya Togami, Fuyuhiko Kuzuryuu, and Kokichi Ouma together in one research lab? Nyeh, I feel really bad for Sonia-san.” Himiko proclaimed.

 

Kaito nodded vigorously. “Togami always walks around like he has a stick up his ass, and Kuzuryuu needs anger management. No kidding… poor Sonia…”

 

“Let’s stop insulting them and come up with a plan. I can interview Kuzuryuu-kun. Rantaro, could you come with me?” Kaede asked.

 

“Yeah, sure. I’ll see if I can talk to Togami.” Rantaro agreed. “We should bring along one more person.”

 

Shuichi raised his hand. “I’ll go-”

 

“No, Shuichi, you should stay here with Ouma-kun.” Kaede said. Frustration bubbled up in the pit of Shuichi’s stomach.

 

“Why? There’s nothing I can contribute to here. I’m a detective! I should be investigating!”

 

Rantaro chuckled. “Something tells me you will be very useful by staying here. Don’t worry about it too much.”

 

Kaede placed her hands on her hips. “Well, that’s that. Does anyone else want to come?”

 

“Oh, Gonta will go! Gonta doesn’t feel good having friends talk to Yakuza without Gonta to protect them!” Gonta exclaimed, looking very excited for some reason.

 

Kaede nodded approvingly. “Great, thank you Gokuhara-kun!” She turned to Korekiyo. “We should hurry. The halls are going to fill soon.”

 

“Yes, you are correct.” Korekiyo said. “I will see everyone tomorrow. We can discuss what we’ve learned then. School will be out, but we can meet somewhere else.”

 

“We can meet at my house.” Rantaro offered. “My Father won’t be there, so we can have the mansion to ourselves.”

 

“Thank you, Amami-kun!” Tsumugi beamed, clasping her hands together. “I’ll make sure to call Harukawa-san’s group to tell them, although it may take them a while before they get back.”

 

“Of course.” Rantaro said. “Okay then, let’s get going.”

 

Korekiyo, Angie, Tsumugi, Kaede, Rantaro, and Gonta exited the room, leaving Miu, Kaito, Ryoma, Himiko, Kirumi, and Shuichi with Kokichi.

 

“Hmph, I guess I’ll get started on finding Ouma’s parents.” Miu muttered. “I’ll be heading to the computer lab.”

 

“What? Why?” Shuichi questioned.

 

“Ah, Shuichi, you weren’t there. The Headmaster came back while you were gone, and asked Iruma to locate and contact Ouma’s parents. Apparently, they aren’t registered anywhere in the school system.”

 

“Exactly! It’s only natural that the Headmaster would ask the gorgeous girl genius, me, to do it!” Miu cackled. “Hey, Astronuts, Tennis Balls, you two are coming with me. Got any experience with hacking?”

 

“Uhh…” Ryoma seemed lost.

 

“I can program certain computers. I hacked into a supercomputer during a simulation in astronaut training. But stuff outside that… I dunno, man.” Kaito admitted.

 

Miu seemed taken back by Kaito mentioning supercomputers. “Fucking show off. Move your asses!” Miu called, sprinting out the door. A reluctant Kaito and Ryoma followed in her footsteps. Shuichi wasn’t really sure where they were going. Probably a place with computers.

 

“Well then.” Kirumi said, looking at Shuichi and Himiko. “Us three will stay here and keep watch on Ouma.” She glanced up at the clock on the wall. “It seems that lab time is just about to start. I need to find Tsumiki-san and ask for some anti-inflammatories and throat sprays, and then I need to make some steam-”

 

“It’s okay Kirumi-san, I’ll go.” Himiko offered. “You’re the best at taking care of people, so you should stay by Ouma-kun’s side.”

 

“Yumeno-”

 

“No but’s. Right now, making sure Ouma-kun doesn’t die is much more important than who’s a maid and who is not. I’m going.”

 

Kirumi sighed. “I understand. I will do my best to look after Ouma.”

 

With that, Himiko left the room in search of Tsumiki, and lab time began. Shuichi did his best to try to help Kokichi, but this wasn’t something that could be fixed with bandages.

 

He was a detective. He was supposed to be figuring out the truth. But this was no normal case.

 

Shuichi’s heart pounded in his chest. His overwhelmed by his desire to see Kokichi well again. He truly wanted nothing more than to break down Kokichi’s lies, and heal him.

 

It was time to get to work.

 

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Maki’s Team, Day One**

 

Their investigations would span over the next three days. Those three days would either kill Kokichi, or save his life.

 

Unfortunately for Maki’s team, things started going wrong on day one.

 

Maki was feeling pretty confident before she, Tenko, and Kiibo got captured. Kokichi was a child of the underworld just like her, which was a twist she had never seen coming. However, this was supposed to make things easier. Maki had hundreds of contacts in the underworld, ranging from drug dealers, to pimps, to other assassins. Sure, all of them were horrible people, but at least one of them must’ve heard of an organization as large as Kokichi’s.

 

Ten-thousand people… Maki couldn’t help but wonder how an insufferable brat like Kokichi had managed to gather such a loyal following. A following that large could only have been built on widespread fear, or impenetrable trust. If she didn’t know better, Maki would’ve assumed the creepy shit had forced a bunch of poor people into his organization, but that conversation Kokichi had with the doctor guy, it seemed that Kokichi’s followers truly cared for him.

 

Speaking of that doctor guy… Naoki was his name. How in the world was Kokichi able to recruit him? If Maki was remembering correctly, Naoki and the Headmaster knew each other, and Naoki claimed that he was “The Ultimate Surgeon.” The Ultimate Surgeon! That idiot doctor could’ve done anything with that title! He could’ve gotten the highest paying medical job in the world, and retired in less than ten years as a billionaire. What was someone like that doing wasting their time in Kokichi’s organization?

 

Or… just how successful was D.I.C.E.?

 

Sadly, Maki would get her answer much quicker than she had hoped.

 

“Geez… you would think someone as important as a yakuza leader would know something about a giant evil organization.” Tenko groaned. Maki sighed, as she was thinking the same thing. But when they asked Maki’s acquaintance about Kokichi’s organization, they said that they didn’t know a thing. “It feels like it’s been hours since we started, and we still have nothing!”

 

“It’s been exactly three hours, twenty-seven minutes, and three… four seconds since we’ve left Hope’s Peak.” Kiibo informed. “The longer we’re out, the deeper into illegal territory we go. Are you sure this is safe, Harukawa-san?”

 

“Of course it isn’t safe. You two don’t belong in places like this.” Maki answered. “Luckily, my next source of information is hidden in the city.”

 

Tenko smiled wide, looking extremely relieved. “Thank Atua! I don’t think I could spend another minute here!”

 

When Tenko spoke of ‘here,’ she was talking about the slums. The slums were perfect for illegal activity, since the law rarely ever visited. The people were easily manipulated, and most of them worked as cheap, expendable goons for drug lords and crime syndicates. It was a very unhealthy, dark, and dangerous place, but many called it home. For a good portion of her life, so did Maki. So when she heard Tenko’s statement, she couldn’t blame the Ultimate Aikido Master, but she also couldn’t ignore the sharp pang in her heart.

 

“We should get moving. I’d like to reach our destination before sundown.” Maki instructed. A part of her wanted to continue searching the slums for clues, but she knew she couldn’t keep Tenko and Kiibo there any longer. Though, she couldn’t help but wonder if Kokichi’s organization was somewhere out there, deep in the slums. Certainly, that would explain the Ultimate Supreme Leader’s knack for deceit and sharp tongue, but that beautiful, expensive looking helicopter she had seen Kokichi ride off in was a sure sign that D.I.C.E. was located somewhere in the city.

 

Kokichi… Maki could still hardly believe what was happening. She had used hanahaki symptoms as cover ups for her assassinations in the past, so she was no stranger to the disease. But seeing someone actually have it? It was truly sickening to see someone in that much pain, even if they were your sworn enemy.

 

Maki thought back to all the times she had tried to kill Kokichi so far. His insensitivity, rudeness, and shitty attitude about everything had driven Maki’s temper over the edge more times than she was willing to admit. But what made her the angriest, was hearing that all of those insults… all of those times that he teased Maki about her feelings for Kaito or put her down because of her talent were just to manipulate her into hating him.

 

Seeing Kokichi again after hearing that was really hard for Maki. She had no idea what to think about him anymore. Seeing him so weak and defenseless went against everything Maki had previously believed.

 

Maki believed Kokichi was horrible to everyone for his own pleasure. Wrong.

 

Maki believed Kokichi didn’t have the ability to feel complex emotions like love. Wrong.

 

Maki believed that she hated Kokichi.

 

There it was again. She didn’t know what to think of him. Maybe that’s why she wanted to help him get better, and to help find the one he loves. She wants to see what the real Kokichi is like. She wants to get her emotions in check and find a title fitting for Kokichi that isn’t fueled by lies. Sadly, this investigation was going to be hard. To pin a target down, one must think like the target. That was a basic rule in assassination. But when the target’s head was an unsolvable puzzle…

 

How the hell was Maki going to find this mystery person?

 

Tenko and Kiibo seemed ecstatic to finally be away from the shadier streets. Unfortunately for them, Maki’s next informant was about as shady as shady could get.

 

“Here we are.” Maki said. She had lead her team to the pristine glass doors of a mammoth building that seemed to touch the sky. It was beautiful and quite important looking, with vibrant billboards attached to it and lights flashing.

 

Tenko’s jaw hit the ground. “Wow! It’s gorgeous! Are you telling me that your friend lives here?”

 

“We’re definitely not friends, and this is a hotel. My acquaintance likes to migrate around.” Said Maki. She lead them through the glass entrance, and into a shimmering, roomy gold-colored lobby. Everything looked expensive, from the plush velvet sofas to the crystal chandelier covered with gemstones.

 

“I’ve never seen such a pricey display in my life.” Kiibo admitted. “It does seem a bit extra, don’t you think?”

 

“This hotel is for people with more money than they know what to do with. It’s located in the heart if the city, has ninety-seven floors, and if you flash them enough money, the employees here will do whatever you tell them. Perfect for snobby V.I.P.’s and criminal organizations with money coming out of their ass.” Maki sneered.

 

They boarded an elevator plated with mirrors and gold handlebars. Maki pressed the ‘97’ button, and they began their ascent.

 

“Yeah, uh, speaking of criminal organizations, who are we meeting next? Hopefully, y’know, not a criminal?” Tenko sputtered nervously.

 

Maki shook her head. “Technically they’re clean, but they might as well be a criminal. But if anyone knows the location of Ouma’s secret organization, it’s them.”

 

“What do you mean, they might as well be a criminal?” Kiibo questioned.

 

“They’re the former Super High School Level Informant. Information can be a nasty business, and they don’t care who their clients are, as long as it gets them cash.”

 

“They went to Hope’s Peak? Hold on, doesn’t Hope’s Peak have an Ultimate Informant right now?” Tenko asked.

 

“Hope’s Peak has an Ultimate Spy, or an Ultimate Secret Agent, I guess you could say. But the person you’re about to meet only works in cold, hard information, and isn’t employed by anyone, as far as I know. They simply deal in information. Hence, the Ultimate Informant.” Maki explained. Though, she still wasn’t sure when they attended Hope’s Peak, so she didn’t know if they were an actual Ultimate… no. Maki had seen their skills. They were top notch.

 

“By the way, why are you so concerned about double talents? Saihara and Kirigiri-san from the class above us are both detectives.”

 

“I guess so.”

 

The elevator doors opened, and everyone stepped outside into a long, decorated hallway. There were practically no doors lining the hall, except for one at the very back.

 

“Is there only one room?” Kiibo wondered.

 

Maki groaned. Of-fucking-course they would pick this room. “Pretty much. It takes up the entire floor, and it’s so unbelievably expensive, that one night costs more than some families make in a lifetime.”

 

Kiibo gasped. “Just how rich is this friend of yours?”

 

Maki fought the urge to take out her knife and throw it against the wall. “I told you, they aren’t my friend. If Ouma wasn’t dying, I’d stay as far away from this asshole as possible.”

 

“You’re making me really nervous. Is this person that bad?” Kiibo shuddered.

 

They had reached the end of the hallway, and they now stood in front of a gold door with intricate designs carved into it. Maki moved her hand to the doorbell. “I guess you’ll have to see for yourself.

 

After she rang the doorbell, a gruff voice came through speakers positioned above the door. “State your name, state your business.”

 

There was a microphone above the doorbell. “My name is Ruby. I have come to discuss business with your boss.” Maki spoke into the microphone.

 

“Ruby?” Tenko whispered.

 

“My assassin name. To the outside world, Maki Harukawa is a child caregiver, not an assassin.”

 

“Oh.”

 

The door clicked, opening to reveal a tall, burly man in a suit, who was most likely a bodyguard. “The boss is waiting in the office. I will escort you and your friends there.”

 

Masterfully crafted paintings hung on the walls, huddled around a giant 60-inch television. The living room was littered with enough exotic plants to fill a forest, and if Maki wasn’t mistaken, there was a live tiger cub sleeping on a golden sofa. Intimidating men and women in suits stood at every corner, their gazes focused on Maki and her friends.

 

The bodyguard led them to a crystal door. “The boss is in here.”

 

Maki nodded towards them and opened the door to the office.

 

The moment Maki opened the door, she was assaulted by the overpowering smell of roses and butter. The office was decorated similarly to the rest of the hotel room, with lavish furniture and expensive decorations. Seemingly untouched books had been stacked neatly on Cherry Wood shelves, surrounding a throne-like chair and a long sofa, with a glass coffee table separating them.

 

Sitting in the chair was a tall, androgynous foreigner with long golden hair tied into a tight ponytail. Their magenta eyes sparkled with mischief, and they seemed to look straight through Maki, taking her apart and building her back together. They wore a large, puffy, light pink jacket over a white crop top with an image of a pancake stitched onto it, and high waisted denim gauchos. Juvenile stickers had been plastered onto their cheeks, which were crinkled from their mischievous smile.

 

“Heyo, Miss Ruby.” They sang. “I can’t imagine why you would want to meet with me on this fine night. Need homework help? Maybe some relationship advice? Please sit down, my dear friend!”

 

Maki tried not to show her distaste towards them. While Tenko and Kiibo sat down on the Sofa, Maki stayed standing. “I am not pleased to introduce you to the Ultimate Informant, Patty Milk.” She spoke with such acidity that she had even surprised herself. “And we’re not friends. We were never friends.”

 

Patty placed a hand dramatically over their heart. “Oh, you wound me!”

 

“Hng! Hmmm!!” Tenko was trying very hard to hold in her laughter, but it clearly wasn’t working. “Patty… Milk??!!!”

 

“Yes, Tenko Chabashira, my name is actually ‘Perpetually Milk,’ but for your tiny little brain’s sake, I go by Patty. Beautiful name, isn’t it!? I hail from the tiny country of Novoselic, the land of beautiful names!”

 

Patty ended their statement with a flourish by thrusting their hands into the air and laughing like a maniac. But Tenko was far too shocked to notice.

 

“How- I never introduced myself! How did you know my name?” Tenko exclaimed.

 

“Honey, I know all of your names, your families’ names, where you were born, where you went to school, your past and current grades, and so much more. Every bit of information is worth something, my little munchkins! Down the road, someone might pay big bucks to learn a little about you.” They glanced towards Maki. “But you already knew all of this, huh?”

 

Maki crossed her arms. “Of course. So, you can assume that I’m not here just to talk.”

 

“Ooooh, scary. But I already knew that. In fact…” Patty stood from their chair, placing a knee on the glass coffee table and leaning over, until their face was just inches away from Maki’s. “I know exactly what you want from me.”

 

Maki narrowed her eyes. “Excuse me?”

 

“As we speak, I believe there’s a small boy throwing up flowers on your classroom floor, who just happens to run a giant secret organization hellbent on taking over the world. And, just maybe, you’re here because you want to know where the location of the organization’s hideout is, so you can talk to the members of the organization. Am I… correct?”

 

Maki’s internal alarm system blared. She had known Patty for years, and she knew that the information broker was about as kind and merciful as a starving lion. If Patty knew about Kokichi’s situation, Maki had no doubt that Patty would use the opportunity to either take out D.I.C.E. or kidnap their leader and sell Kokichi for ransom money. And how did Patty grab ahold of that info? No, it would be a waste of time to try and figure out Patty’s tricks. Wait, were Kiibo and Tenko safe in this room with Patty? Yes, actually, they both had combat skills and Maki would be able to protect them if necessary. Hold on, Maki needed to stay on track! Kokichi and his organization could be in even more trouble than before now that Patty had that information. Patty could sell it to D.I.C.E.’s enemies, or-

 

“Geez, Ruby, you’re thinking too much. Or, should I call you Maki Harukawa? Let’s not keep secrets from each other now~!” Patty giggled. “I’m not going to hurt your little friend. If I hurt him, or sold him out, D.I.C.E. would know right away, and I’d be dead. It’s really not worth it.”

 

Maki raised an eyebrow. “How would they know?”

 

“Easy.” Patty said. They reached around their puffy jacket and dug into the pockets. They pulled out a black and white checkered scarf, causing Maki’s eyes to fly open in shock.

 

“I’m a member!”

 

Maki clenched her fists. “I don’t believe you.”

 

“What is there not to believe?” Patty asked innocently, tying the scarf around their neck.

 

“You don’t work with others, and you would never submit to an organization.”

 

“Are you sure about that?” Patty grinned. “In actuality, that classmate of yours only took two minutes to convince me. His organization is really something. It was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up.”

 

Maki was speechless.

 

“Now that you know that, I have two options for you!” Patty announced, spreading their arms. “My job is to erase the memories of those who come to me in search of D.I.C.E.’s hideout, and you are no different. Don’t get me wrong, I would love to kill you, but D.I.C.E. is specifically a no-killing zone. So! Your options are to leave with your memories of D.I.C.E. erased, or to be taken into captivity by D.I.C.E.”

 

“What will you do if we run with our memories? You should know by now that those measly guards standing outside this room can’t hurt me. And they definitely can’t hurt my friends.”

 

“Tsk tsk, now that wouldn’t be nice. Unfortunately for you, I already informed the higher ups that you were arriving. They are on their way to intercept you in case you run. And for your information, I’m not the only Ultimate on D.I.C.E.’s side. We’ve got our own martial artists and assassins.”

 

The door to the office suddenly opened, causing Maki, Tenko, and Kiibo to flinch in surprise. One of the bodyguards was at the door. “Boss, a higher-up has arrived.”

 

Patty’s eyes shined excitedly. “Wow, that was quick! You, watch over these three. I’m going to negotiate with whoever showed up.” Patty pulled a remote control out of their pocket, pressing a button. Straps flew out from the sofa, securing Maki and her friends to the seat. They tried to break the straps, but the material wouldn’t falter.

 

They had been captured.

 

Patty left the room, leaving Maki, Tenko, and Kiibo alone with the bodyguard. Maki surveyed her surroundings. The guard was on full alert. There were no windows in the office, and nothing that could be used as a weapon. The arm that held Maki’s knife was numb from lack of blood flow from the straps, so she couldn’t pull out her weapon.

 

What to do…

 

“Kiibo-kun, quick question.” Tenko whispered. “Wouldn’t it be nice if this room had some glitter?”

 

“What are you saying?” Kibbo muttered, looking quite claustrophobic.

 

“I’m saying, these straps would look nice with glitter.”

 

Oh. Maki understood it. Apparently, Kiibo understood it too.

 

“Are you crazy? We could all be severely injured!” Kiibo argued. “And I don’t know how to work it!”

 

“You’ve used the glitter version before, right?” Tenko reasoned. “It should work the same. Besides, Harukawa-san and I have strong bodies. We can take it.”

 

Kiibo thought for a moment before giving in. “Fine. I’ll do it on the count of three. One…”

 

Maki tensed her muscles, bracing for the impact Kiibo’s canons would bring. She wasn’t dying here, and she certainly wasn’t surrendering herself to anyone.

 

“Two…”

 

She thought she heard some shouting outside the office, but it didn’t matter. They were going to bust out, kill the guard, and leave this stupid hotel.

 

“Thre-”

 

Kiibo was about to fire off his canons, but the door was knocked off its hinges. They turned to the door, to see a familiar face standing in the doorway. It was a tall, middle-aged man in a lab coat. He had wild, minty green hair and matching eyes and glasses. He was breathing hard, as if he had ran a marathon. For some reason, he was carrying Patty Milk in his arms, while the Ultimate Informant screamed and kicked under his grip.

 

“Naoki, you asshole! Let me go!”

 

“Call me an asshole again, and you’re out of D.I.C.E.”

 

“I’m gonna tell Munakata that you’re harassing me.”

 

“I haven’t talked to that superhuman freak since graduation day, so have fun with that.”

 

Naoki, the Ultimate Surgeon who knew Kokichi, was right before Maki’s eyes. He had an aura of ferocity surrounding him as he put down Patty. He dug into their pocket, pulling out the same remote that trapped Maki’s team, crushing it beneath his fingers. The straps on the sofa disappeared, and all three captives immediately jumped up.

 

“You’re the guy who came to help Ouma!” Tenko exclaimed. “What are you doing here?”

 

Naoki straightened his glasses. “I’m here to take you to the D.I.C.E. headquarters, of course.”

 

Maki immediately pulled out her knife. “What are you going to do to us?”

 

“Relax. I’m not going to hurt you. I know what you guys want, and I’m willing to provide it. Did you think I wouldn’t notice that fucking tracker you placed on me?” Naoki grumbled. “Your class most likely heard our entire conversation. After hearing that, it’s impossible that you wouldn’t want to find out more about Kokichi.”

 

“Isn’t D.I.C.E. a secret organization, though?” Kiibo questioned. “Are you sure you just want to hand out secrets to us?”

 

Patty spoke up from the floor. “Naoki-sama, if you tell them anything, they’ll just sell the information-”

 

“That’s something you would do. They wouldn’t.” Naoki said. He started checked the time from the clock on the wall, his expression hardening. “We need to get moving. We have a lot to talk about, and very little time. You’re trying to locate who Kokichi loves, right?

 

Then get ready, because Kokichi isn’t easy to understand.”

 

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Korekiyo’s Team, Day One**

Korekiyo was no fool. He knew Tsumugi had chosen to accompany himself and Angie because she believed Korekiyo would kill the Ultimate Artist. In other circumstances, Korekiyo might’ve done the deed, but this was school. His sister made him promise not to kill his classmates, and he never disobeyed sister.

Honestly, Korekiyo was quite offended by Tsumugi’s actions. After all, Tsumugi was friends with Toko Fukawa, who had killed much more than Korekiyo had.

It just wasn’t fair.

At least Tsumugi’s costume change was quick. Korekiyo and Angie were waiting outside the Fashion Lab, a clothing lover’s haven that Tsumugi shared with the Ultimate Fashionista and the Ultimate Imposter. The change only took about thirty seconds.

Instead of her usual attire, the Ultimate Cosplayer was now wearing a black dress with a red belt and a red tie, a long black wig with red contacts, and she sported a sword on her back. The getup reminded Korekiyo of Maki in a way, but Maki was much more straightforward with her malice. Tsumugi, on the other hand…

“I’ll only get into character if I need to!” She enthused, gripping her sword tightly. Angie had just cheered and praised Tsumugi’s talents, unaware of the malice Tsumugi held behind her kind smile. A shiver ran down Korekiyo’s spine. Tsumugi would make such a good friend for sister…

_‘No Korekiyo… she’s your classmate. Also, you must pay attention. Kokichi will not survive much longer if you keep standing around.’_

Korekiyo stiffened. “I understand, Tsumugi. We cannot waste any more time. Let us go to the library now.

Korekiyo could hardly contain his excitement. He had been itching to study hanahaki ever since he first heard about it, but he had far too much to do. He had to research that ancient village in Slovenia that murdered their elders. Also, he had to finally write that in-depth study of Adolf Hitler’s behaviors he had planned when he was six, but hadn’t got to because he was too busy learning about voodoo. But now, he had snagged the opportunity to spend hours in the library, reading books about the subject that was never meant to be-!

He shivered at the thought.

Even if Korekiyo didn’t get anything interesting from his studies on the disease, Kokichi himself was a fascinating research subject all on his own. Korekiyo had dismissed Kokichi as another juvenile fiend who lived for mischief, but that was clearly incorrect. Wow… when Kokichi woke up… Korekiyo already had hundreds of questions he wanted to ask.

Finally, Korekiyo’s team reached the library. The library was truly a wonderful place, filled with knowledge, silence, and that addicting smell of old books Korekiyo had come to adore. Usually, when Korekiyo came, the library was filled with students from each grade level. Luckily, since they had arrived during Lab Time, almost all the students, save for the ones in Korekiyo’s class, were in their various Research Labs. That meant that Korekiyo, Angie, and Tsumugi had the library all to themselves.

“Atua and I have never seen the library be so silent.” Angie revealed. “It’s reeeeeally empty!”

“It seems that even the librarian isn’t here.” Tsumugi observed. She turned to Korekiyo. “Oh, is it okay if I use the computers to research instead of the medical books? I’m not a very good reader, and I find computers much more comfortable.”

“I don’t mind.” Said Korekiyo. “Yonaga-san, the medical books are over there.” He pointed to a bookshelf stocked with thick textbooks. “If In remember correctly, most of the hanahaki books are a light pink. I shall start with the books in the Anthropology section… for obvious reasons.”

Tsumugi thrusted her sword into the air. “Let’s save Ouma-kun!”

Tsumugi pranced over to the computers, while Angie struggled to pull a large, pink-tinted textbook from the medical shelf. Korekiyo’s feet carried him to the Anthropology shelf. His eyes skimmed through the vast selection, until he finally settled on a book titled ‘Only in Humans.’ He remembered an article praising the book on it’s accuracy in the study of hanahaki. Korekiyo had bookmarked the article in his brain, so he could pull it out in the right circumstances, like this one.  

Time flew by as Korekiyo lost himself in the book. Hanahaki was truly a fascinating disease. The flowers of love cannot bloom if the love isn’t strong enough, and the disease progresses as the feelings of hopelessness wash over the patient. Curing the disease is simple enough, but many patients choose not to go through with the surgery to remove the roots from the lungs.

Hold on…

“I believe I just found something that could be very important to our investigation.” Korekiyo announced, beckoning for Angie and Tsumugi to join him.

“Wow!” Angie exclaimed. “A study in 2012 took twenty hanahaki patients and studied possible connections between the flower the disease formed in their bodies and the receiver of their love. Scientists were shocked when they found that ninety percent of the patients’ flowers had connections to their lovers. For example, a woman whose disease plagued her with pink tulips was in love with a man with pink hair.”

“Furthermore,” Tsumugi continued, “The patient’s outlook on their lover (lover in this circumstance relates to a one-sided love) seemed to influence the shade of the color. Taking the same woman as an example, when interviewed, she expressed that her feelings towards the man were overwhelmingly positive, which correlated with the brightness of the pink tulips. However, when scientists instructed the man to hurt the woman emotionally, the tulips turned a darker shade of pink, though the disease did not fade. This experiment was performed many more times with increasing intensity, which alerted scientists that no matter how much a lover hurts a hanahaki patient, the patient’s feelings will not fade”

 

“Look here, there’s a fun fact in the corner of the page.” Korekiyo noticed. “ _Hanahaki attacks are usually triggered through the patient thinking about the one they love. This makes contact between the patient and the one they love very dangerous._ ”

“Atua would like to express his distaste towards these experiments. They’re cruel.” Angie piped up, her cheerful smiled not matching the content of her words.

“But this tells us quite a lot, doesn’t it?” Korekiyo emphasized. “Tsumugi, Kokichi’s flowers were small and blue, weren’t they? Do you recognize them?”

Tsumugi shook her head. “No, sorry.”

Korekiyo turned to Angie, but she stated that neither she nor Atua knew anything about the small, blue flowers either.

“Saihara and Gokuhara are always looking at flowers. Perhaps they know…?” Korekiyo murmured.

“I can try to look them up,” Tsumugi offered. She moved over to the computer she was previously working at. She opened a new tab, typing into the search bar ‘small blue flower,’ and instantly, hundreds of photos of the flowers Korekiyo saw earlier popped up.

“That is a strange name… forget-me-not?” Tsumugi marveled.

Suddenly, a new voice came out of nowhere. “Ooh, forget-me-nots! Their symbolism in literature is beautiful, really. The growing affection between to people, undying love, and the memories that were created along the way all have to do with that tiny blue flower!”

Korekiyo whipped around to see a girl with long purple hair styled into braids, wearing a purple uniform. Upon her arrival, an unpleasant stench filled the library.

“Fukawa… what are you doing here?” Korekiyo asked.

Toko, the Ultimate Writing Prodigy, stood before them with a book in her hands. Her neutral face scrunched up at Korekiyo’s words. “What, do you not want me here? I’m allowed to be here, you know! This is a library!” Toko accused, pointing a shaky finger at Korekiyo. Korekiyo simply rolled his eyes.

After she calmed down, Toko started talking again. “Shirogane-san… I need your help.”

Tsumugi looked confused. “My help? I thought you hated anime and manga. What could you possibly need my help for?”

“I need a costume… I need to look like I’m Sonia-san. I asked Fake-Byakuya-sama, but he said that it was beneath him. So I need your help.”

“Well, first off, I’m afraid making costumes of real people brings me immense pain, so unless I had a really good reason to, I cannot help you. So… would you need to look like Sonia-san?” Tsumugi wondered.

Toko grinned, a blush appearing over her cheeks. She pulled out a locked purple journal. “I found this in Byakuya-sama’s bag. I overheard him say something about ow he lost the key to open it in his research lab, and I really… really want to know what’s inside. Please, I need a disguise! I need to find the key… I need to…”

Tsumugi was taken back by Toko’s request. “Sorry Fukawa-san, but I’m afraid I don’t have the time at the moment.” She told the Ultimate Writer, though it was clear to Korekiyo that Tsumugi really did not want to be a part of that plan.

Toko scowled. “What are you doing that could be more important than Byakuya-sama’s secrets?”

Korekiyo groaned. “Nothing that you need to concern yourself with.”

“Why can’t I know? Are you plotting something against me? Do you hate me that much? All of you are horrible, smelly, ugly people!”

“No Fukawa-san, you’ve got it all wrong. We’re trying to help our friend.”

“What friend?”

Angie wagged her finger. “Atua says you wouldn’t be happy if you knew.”

Toko was enraged by this point. “So you are plotting something against me!” She cried.

Korekiyo was reaching his last nerve with this girl. It took him all he had to not murder the girl right then and there. However, he knew that she would be a terrible friend for sister, and that was the only thing that was keeping Toko alive.

“ _She kills too, my dear Korekiyo. Even if you tried, you would come out on the bottom_.” Korekiyo’s sister told him. This only fueled Korekiyo’s anger, though he kept his emotions hidden.

“I apologize for this, since I believe it is a disturbance of our friend’s privacy, but I cannot put up with her whining any longer.” Korekiyo seethed. “Our friend, Ouma, is in considerable danger at the moment, and we are trying to help him. If you cannot understand that, then I ask you to leave.”

Toko froze, a look of horror donning across her face. “Ouma… Kokichi Ouma…” then, her earlier rage exploded once more. “Kokichi! Everything’s about Kokichi! For the past week, all Byakuya-sama could think about was that stupid Kokichi! Kokichi this, Kokichi that, it’s driving me nuts!”

“Togami knows about Ouma’s problem?” Angie queried.

“How should I know? All Byakuya-sama does these days is read his diary and talk about that smelly Kokichi! ‘I don’t have time for you, my lab partner’s in trouble,’ ‘oh, Kokichi needs my attention, so go away,’ It’s horrible!” She ranted. “And if you’re not going to help me, then I’ll go! Have fun doing nothing productive!” Toko glared threateningly at all of them before storming off.

“That was intriguing.” Korekiyo deadpanned.

“Even if she was acting up, her anger actually gave us some interesting information.” Tsumugi noticed. “Think about it. Why would Togami-kun know of Ouma-kun’s problem? Did Ouma-kun tell him? Or did he find out through a different method?”

“Akamatsu’s group is in the Leader’s Lab, correct?” Angie enthused. “Then we shall ask them if they talked to Togami!”

“Yes, but that will take place later. For now, we must focus on our research.” Korekiyo said.

After that weird conversation, Korekiyo’s team returned to their research, with many questions floating around in their heads.

 

**\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**Kaede’s Team, Day One**

Shuichi’s expression of pure shock kept Kaede’s brain occupied as she, Rantaro, and Gonta made their way to Kokichi’s Research Lab. Shuichi always kept his emotions as guarded as possible, hiding his face under his hat and keeping his voice small. Kaede never liked when her best friend did that. She had always longed for the day when her pep talks wormed their way through Shuichi’s thick skull and gave him some well-deserved confidence.

That’s why Kaede couldn’t help but play that one moment over and over again in her head. Shuichi getting angry? Rare. Shuichi raising his voice? Impossible. Shuichi looking at Kokichi like Kokichi was the greatest thing to ever grace the earth? Sorry, but Kaede could hardly believe it. She knew something was off since the beginning of the year. Shuichi was one of the only people in the class, if not the only one who tolerated Kokichi’s obnoxious pranks and insults. She knew something was off when Shuichi kept on checking on Kokichi’s finger after Kokichi had supposedly cut it. Continuously. Throughout the week. She knew something was wrong when Rantaro told Kaede that Shuichi had a crush on her, but Shuichi looked at Kokichi the same way he looked at her.

For a guy who followed a strict routine daily, her bestie was terribly indecisive.

How the hell could Shuichi not realize his crush on Kokichi? And she knew he hadn’t, because if he had, Kaede would’ve heard of it. Kaede had known Shuichi since forever, and every time the idiot detective got crush, he would tell Kaede. Immediately. She would do the same thing, of course, because they knew that the other would be there to help them. It made sense that Shuichi didn’t tell her about his crush on, well, her, but there was no way he would keep anything else from her.

So, back to square one.

“Kaede, are you okay?” Rantaro’s mellow voice whispered, cutting through Kaede’s train of thought.

Kaede brushed her hair behind her ear. “Yeah, I’m just thinking.”

“About Shuichi?”

Kaede took a deep breath. “How did you know?”

Rantaro smirked. “Because that’s what I was thinking about too.” He shrugged his shoulders, relaxing his smile. “Y’know, I don’t think he likes you anymore.”

“I’m thinking the same thing.” Kaede paused for a moment. “Is it okay to talk about this in front of Gokuhara-kun?”

They looked back at the gentle giant, who looked dead on his feet. “The poor guy was about as worried about Ouma as Saihara was. We should let him rest for a moment before we go to the Leader’s Lab for the interview.” Rantaro reasoned. “Lab time starts in three minutes. How about we let Gokuhara get a milkshake from Hanamura in the dining hall?”

So, that’s what they did. On their way to the basement, Kaede’s team stopped at the dining hall on the first floor to let a weary and worried Gonta refuel with one of Teruteru’s top-notch milkshakes. Lab time had just started, and they were lucky to get to Teruteru before the teachers came pouring in for food.

While Gonta sipped happily on his milkshake, Kaede and Rantaro resumed their discussion.

“Do you think Saihara-kun likes Ouma-kun?”

“Probably.” Rantaro admitted. “But now that we’ve discovered Ouma’s hanahaki, I really don’t want to discuss it with Saihara. After all, knowing that the one you like is madly in love with someone else isn’t really good for one’s confidence.”

“What if the one Ouma-kun likes in Saihara-kun?”

“Nah. I doubt it. Ouma wouldn’t be dying right now if that was the case.”

Kaede’s tried her best to remain optimistic. “I thought I heard somewhere that the only cure for hanahaki besides surgery is verbal confirmation from the target of the patient’s feelings.” She said. “So if Saihara-kun likes Ouma-kun, and Ouma-kun likes Saihara-kun, then all we need is for Saihara-kun to confess, and Ouma-kun will be better again!”

Rantaro just shook his head. “Your positivity is one of the things I love about you Kaede, but I highly doubt it. Then again, I’m no love expert, so I think we can add Saihara to our suspect list. In my opinion, I think Gokuhara or Momota are much more likely.”

“But you’ve seen how much time Ouma-kun and Saihara-kun spend together. Around Saihara-kun, Ouma-kun’s always smiling and stuff!”

“Ouma smiles around everyone. He’s a smiley guy.” Rantaro’s expression suddenly darkened. “Or at least, that’s what we’ve been made to think. We don’t know anything about Ouma at this point.”

Gonta finished his milkshake, so they started walking towards the Leader’s Lab again. Somehow, Kaede would prove that Shuichi liked Ouma. She could feel it in her gut.

The Leader’s Lab was… unusual.

The room was large, and it seemed to be divided into four sections. The north wall was black the east wall was pink, the south wall was green, and the west wall was purple. Kaede’s team had entered through a door in the south wall, and when they looked over, they noticed that a throne was against every wall. Each varied in shape, design, and color. In fact, every section of the room was colored and designed differently. It was as if the occupants of the room divided up the land, each claiming a part of the room as their own. Monitors, maps, and documents had been strewn across the lab.

Sitting on a black throne on the northern side of the room was a short, baby-faced guy in a pinstripe suit. He was editing a paper, but he stopped to glare at Kaede and her friends when they walked in. Meanwhile, sitting on a rose gold throne near the east wall, was a beautiful, fair-skinned foreign girl with long blonde hair and blue eyes. She seemed to be on a call with someone. Each figure had an intimidating aura of authority that made Kaede’s skin crawl.

“Fuyuhiko Kuzuryuu, the Ultimate Yakuza, and Sonia Nevermind, the Ultimate Princess.” Rantaro breathed. “I’m a little nervous.”

“Gonta is nervous too. He don’t want to be un-gentlemanly in front of princess and yakuza.”

Sonia dismissed whoever was on the other end of her call. She stood from her throne, greeting Kaede, Rantaro, and Gonta with a smile. “Welcome! What brings you three here?”

She seemed so warm. Kaede tried her best to pretend that she wasn’t talking to a princess. “Um, we came to, uh, ask a few questions. About our classmate.”

“Do you mean Kokichi? Does that mean you do not know where he is either?” Sonia asked.

“It’s not that. We know where he is, but he’s in a… situation, where we need to know more about him to help him. He’s not being much help on the matter, so we were hoping, since you spend so much time with him, that you would know a little about his, uh, true personality?”

“True… personality?” Sonia echoed.

A new voice entered the conversation. “It’s no use. The little shit doesn’t show genuine emotion to anyone. Not even us.”

Fuyuhiko had put down his documents, but he still watched from afar. “Besides, why are you helping Kokichi? He’s fine on his own.”

“What is this situation that Kokichi is in?” Sonia interrogated. “Please, tell us this instant!”

“He has hanahaki!” Kaede blurted out, unaware of her actions. Sonia’s tone of voice had been so commanding, that she couldn’t stop herself from telling the truth. Kaede wanted to slap herself in the face. Fortunately, it seemed that she wasn’t the only one who slipped up. Gonta had synced with her, saying the exact words she had at the exact same time. He had slapped his hands over his mouth, looking mortified. Rantaro seemed to be at a loss for words.

“Hanahaki? Like… the love thing, hanahaki?” Fuyuhiko muttered, frozen in shock. When Kaede confirmed it, he looked ready to topple over. “Kokichi… in love? Holy shit. Holy fucking shit.”

Sonia looked horrified. “Is he okay?! Does he need help? Please, let us help!”

“Don’t go making decisions for me!” Fuyuhiko shouted angrily. Though, despite his words, Kaede could tell that he was extremely worried.

“That’s what we’re here for. Currently, we’re trying to learn more about Ouma-kun and his relationships, in hopes that we can find who it is he’s in love with. Is it… is it okay if we interview you two?”

Sonia nodded determinedly. “Please. I don’t know if I know anything your class doesn’t, but I will try my best to provide support.”

“Wonderful! Gonta will interview Sonia-san!” Gonta exclaimed. He made his way to Sonia, and they broke off from the rest of the group.

Rantaro looked around the research lab. “Huh? Togami’s not here?”

“He’s out for the day. He’ll be dropping by the lab tomorrow though, so if you wanna meet with him, be my guest.”

Rantaro frowned. “Then I don’t have anyone to interview. Kuzuryuu, is it okay if I take a look around Ouma’s part of the lab?”

“I guess. Just don’t get into my stuff. I’ll murder your ass if you do.”

Rantaro made his way towards the purple side of the room, which without a doubt was Kokichi’s. That left Kaede with Fuyuhiko.

Fuyuhiko folded his arms. “I normally would refuse a talk with someone I barely know, like you, but you need information to keep him alive. So ask away.”

Kaede noticed an unusual chart on the wall:

**Leader Research Lab: Strikes**

**Kuzuryuu: X**

**Nevermind:**

**Oowada: X X X (Kicked)**

**Ouma: X X**

**Togami: X X**

“What’s this?” Kaede asked.

Fuyuhiko stared at the chart with clear distaste. “The Headmaster knew putting five leaders in one lab was a terrible idea, so he created some incentive to help us get along. If you get three strikes, you’re kicked from the lab, and your grade plummets. Oowada got kicked last year, and he’s constantly doing extra credit to keep his grade up, from what I hear.”

“Oh… so Togami-kun and Ouma-kun are both one strike away from being kicked from the lab?”

“Yeah. Sonia’s the only one who can actually keep a level head around here. I try my best, but I sometimes fail. On the other hand, Kokichi and Byakuya both think they’re the greatest, which is bullshit, and their fights just end up with them getting strikes.”

Kaede cocked her head. “Fights?”

Fuyuhiko nodded. “It’s usually Kokichi who starts them, but once in a while, Byakuya will say something totally out of the blue that pisses off Kokichi. Only once have I ever seen Kokichi look genuinely mad, however.” He shuddered. “I’m only telling you this because you need information on that piece of shit, but if you tell anyone what I’m about to say, I’ll murder your ass, got it?”

Kaede gulped. “Yeah, sure…”

Fuyuhiko sighed deeply. “It was terrifying. I’ll never forget it for the rest of my life. It took place a couple months ago, when Byakuya stormed into the lab looking fucking furious. Sonia, who’s the only one who can talk to the bastard without getting her head blown off, tried to calm him down and ask what was wrong. Kokichi was **writing in that stupid diary of his** , and I was polishing my pistol, when Byakuya just started shouting. Apparently one of the girls from his class… Fukawa, I think, was pissing him off. The girl has some massive crush on him, and Byakuya kept on ranting about how she was disgusting and beneath him. Then, Byakuya delivered the final insult, by calling that chick ‘nothing better than a servant.’

Kokichi snapped. The little shit was beside himself with anger. I was afraid he was going to kill Byakuya, seriously. He started saying shit like ‘how dare you play with her feelings!’ Cliché stuff like that, but still. It was insane. If Kokichi wanted to attack Byakuya, which I’m certain he did, he didn’t act on it. Instead, he just looked at his weird-ass diary, shoved it in his locker, and ran out of the lab.”  

Fuyuhiko looked solemnly at Kokichi’s throne. “Now that I think about it, Kokichi’s anger must’ve been derived from this hanahaki shit he’s going through. I guess I can’t give you much. Besides that instant, he’s never shared his true feelings with us. But I heard from somewhere that you can learn a lot about someone from what makes them angry, so do what you can with that. Lab Time’s almost over, so I’m heading out.”

Kaede was… quite taken back. Not just from Fuyuhiko’s story, but Fuyuhiko’s behavior. During lab time in the Musical Research Lab, Ibuki was always complaining about how angry the Ultimate Yakuza always was, and how he never cooperated with anyone except for Peko, the Ultimate Swordswoman.

Fuyuhiko had lived up to that accusation when Kaede started talking to him, but the mention of Kokichi’s illness seemed to soften him up. But… that didn’t make any sense. Sure, some lab partners spent more time with each other than classmates did, but Kokichi couldn’t have only been rude to his classmates. Fuyuhiko’s statements proved that. So why did Fuyuhiko seem to have a soft spot for him?

“Kuzuryuu-kun, before you go, may I ask you one more thing?” Kaede questioned.

“Hm? Make it quick.”

“Were you and Ouma-kun friends?”

This question made Fuyuhiko freeze in his tracks. He looked confused, as if he couldn’t come up with a good answer.

“I… I’m not sure. We shared a bond of some sort. That guy lives in a world of misunderstanding, and so do I. We looked past each other’s misgivings, and tried our best to understand each other, so I guess that makes us friends.” Fuyuhiko paused. “Kokichi’s the guy who won’t try to understand you unless you try and understand him. If I had to take a guess, I’d say the mystery person you’re looking for is someone who’s tried to understand Kokichi. They’re someone who’s reached out to him… I guess.”

People who’ve reached out to Kokichi? Everyone did, at the beginning of the year. But Kokichi made it clear that none of their attempts would work, so everyone stopped trying. The only people who could really tolerate Kokichi were Shuichi, Gonta, Kirumi, and Rantaro, though Kaede knew that her boyfriend found the Ultimate Supreme Leader a little annoying.

Kirumi could be crossed off the list, since she was a girl, and they had already established that Kokichi’s crush was male. Shuichi was always trying to ‘figure Kokichi out,’ and Gonta acted as some sort of bodyguard for Kokichi. Rantaro liked to think of Kokichi as a weird younger brother, and she knew for a fact that Kokichi thought of Rantaro as some sort of sibling too. Well, that’s what Shuichi told her, anyways.

Everything comes back to Shuichi. Could the theories Kaede formed with Rantaro be true? She would have to think a little more.

“Thank you for your time, Kuzuryuu-kun.”

“Yeah, whatever. Just make sure to heal him up. This lab would look stupid with only three thrones.”

Fuyuhiko left the lab, which only left Sonia, Gonta, and Rantaro in the room with Kaede. Sonia and Gonta had long since finished the interview, and they were now playing rock-paper-scissors near Sonia’s rose gold throne.  

“Gokuhara-kun, did you find anything?” Kaede asked.

Gonta lit up. “Yep! Sonia told Gonta a lot.”

Sonia smiled happily. “I’m glad I could help. Please take care of Kokichi.”

Rantaro made his way to Sonia’s throne, holding a small bag. “I just finished. I found some pretty important things, so we should look at everything together and discuss it.”

“Sounds good. Let’s go somewhere else. I don’t want to barge into the classroom and interrupt what may be going on in there. We can go to my house, or stay at Rantaro’s after the discussion with the class.” Kaede said. She turned to Gonta. “Up for a sleepover, Gokuhara-kun?”

Kaede wasn’t sure if she had ever seen Gonta happier. “Yes, please! Gonta love being with friends. Gonta and friends will save Kokichi!”

Kaede looked back on what they had done. It was likely that they would have to talk to Byakuya the next day, so they would be going from Kaede’s house, to Rantaro’s house, and then to the academy to speak with Byakuya.

They were going to have a busy day.

 

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Team Iruma, Day One**

Kaito had always been the type of guy to always be sure of himself. He was never indecisive. He knew what he wanted, and how to get it. That was something he took pride in. He was Kaito Momota, the sixteen-year-old astronaut that was going to make it to space. His best friend was Shuichi Saihara, and his girlfriend was Maki Harukawa. His greatest supporters were his grandparents, and his greatest enemy was Kokichi Ouma. That was how it was. He was sure of it.

Until now.

Now, he was stuck in the computer lab with Miu and Ryoma, looking for Kokichi’s family in public (and private) information stores, because the guy who was supposed to be Kaito’s greatest hurdle in life was dying from an emotion Kaito thought he could never feel.

Kaito was smart, and he knew his weaknesses. He was no stranger to being fooled throughout his lifetime, but believing in people, even when they’ve shown their worst colors, was a principal Kaito lived by. Kokichi Ouma had been the first to ever break through that, convincing Kaito that he was beyond saving.

He knew he should’ve tried to dig deeper. If only he had believed a little more in the Supreme Leader, maybe Kokichi would’ve opened up to him. But the moment Kokichi insulted Maki in a way that was unforgivable, Kaito had determined him a lost cause.

Kaito had been tricked.

At first, that was what really made Kaito mad, but after thinking about it, he was absolutely furious. Who in their right mind would trick someone into hating them? If Kokichi had just told everyone that he was suffering, everyone would’ve helped him, right?

No.

No one would’ve believed him.

That just made Kaito angrier.

“Momota, what are you thinking about?” Ryoma asked.

Kaito stared straight ahead at the computer screen. “I can’t figure out Ouma. I really can’t. I don’t understand.”

Kaito could feel Ryoma’s gaze against his back, almost as if the Ultimate Tennis Pro was thoroughly analyzing him. “I can understand why you feel that way. After all, you and Ouma are polar opposites. However, I must ask… where you paying attention to the conversation Ouma was having with his friend? That will give you all the answers you need.” Ryoma explained.

“The only question I have is ‘why?’ I can grasp the questions and their answers, but not the motivations, y’know?”

Kaito pulled his focus from the screen, only to see Ryoma frowning. “I… don’t really get what you’re saying… but I sort of understand.” Ryoma leaned back in his chair, balancing dangerously. “We’ve come to know Ouma as a guy who feeds off anger and instability. While we cannot disprove these findings, we can’t overlook the fact that there’s much more to Ouma as a person. He’s a logical thinker, and extremely manipulative, for starters. If we had never gotten the chance to learn his true intentions, we would’ve probably cared much less for his death. However, In his endeavors to try to become less human, he ended up making himself more human than anyone in our class.”

“What do you mean by that?”

Ryoma stared at the ceiling. “You want to understand why Ouma would try to make us hate him, right? Ouma’s a logical guy. Mask or not, that’s just how he thinks. But you saw how he was arguing with his friend. His friend had established himself on the logical side of the argument, while Ouma was clearly speaking entirely from his emotions. In the flurry of anger, Ouma stripped himself down to his core, exposing his true feelings. His desperate attempt to spare our feelings from his death, his fear of his own death, his uncertainties, it was all clear to see in that argument.” Ryoma reasoned.

“That makes no sense whatsoever.” Kaito grumbled.

“That’s because you’re not looking deep enough. You’re still thinking too much about the Ouma we thought we knew. That Ouma was a mask.”

Kaito sighed, defeated. “But… we could’ve helped him. If he hadn’t lied to us from the beginning, we could’ve been there for him, and tried to help him through his problems… but he never gave us that chance. It doesn’t make sense.”

Ryoma furrowed his brow. “I’ve met some people who have trouble opening up to others because of betrayals in the past. It’s possible that something has happened to Ouma before we met him that warped him into a liar to hide his emotions.”

“But still! You say Ouma thinks logically, but the only logical conclusion is to let others help you!”

“That’s your logical conclusion. At the end of the day, everyone’s logic is different. You happen to think purely emotionally, which is the opposite of Ouma’s thinking, though it seemed that

“You’re confusing me.” Kaito admitted.

“I hope you understand soon, because I suspect that it’s you who Ouma loves.”

“Wha-“

“Ugh, I’m sick of your yapping, tick-tack-dicks! Get back to work!” Miu cried, slamming her fist on the desk. Kaito stopped talking, instead simply giving Ryoma a ‘you’re insane’ look and returning to his research.

The questions Kaito had remained unanswered, but in the end, his group wasn’t in charge of trying to understand Kokichi, and they weren’t in charge of trying to find who it was that the Supreme Leader loved. They were simply looking for Kokichi’s parents. Kaito had initially thought that it would be easy. But after he sifted through hundreds of documents and done way too many location scans, he was sure that Miu had signed him up for an impossible task.

“We’ve looked through thousands of Ouma families across the world, and nothing? This is bullshit! I refuse to accept this!” Miu growled.

“Are we looking in the wrong place?” Kaito wondered.

“Of course not! We’ve scanned ever district and hacked into thousands of citizen information safes, so how-”

“Found them.” Ryoma deadpanned. Kaito and Miu stared at him in shock.

“Sort of.” Ryoma said. “There’s some good news, and some bad news.”

“What is it?” Kaito asked.

“Well, the good news is that I found them. The bad news… actually, just come see for yourself.” Ryoma backed away from his computer screen, allowing Kaito and Miu to come closer for a better look.

Family of Seven Found Dead in Home.

 **The Ouma family was found murdered in their home** Sunday evening. Four children were killed, and the murderer has not yet been caught by police. **When asked, the neighbors revealed that the Ouma family had a fifth child, 4-year-old Kokichi Ouma**. Kokichi’s body was not found anywhere within or around the home. If anyone has any information on the whereabouts of Kokichi Ouma, please contact us immediately.

Silence filled the computer lab. Kaito could hardly believe what he was reading.

“Are you telling me… Ouma’s entire family is dead?” Kaito murmured.

“Seems that way.” Ryoma grimaced. “That means our job is pretty much done. **Ouma has no family to contact**.”

“Either way, that’s really fucking suspicious.” Miu claimed. “We know that Ouma’s still alive, for now at least. Are you telling me that a four-year-old ran away from a massacre and survived on his own? That’s bullshit!”

“He does have his organization.” Kaito said.

“And how the fuck are they supposed to contribute? Ouma was fucking four! There’s no way a tit-sucking four-year-old could just build an underground organization from scratch, and definitely not right after their family was murdered!”

The school bell could be heard, signifying the end of lab time, and the end of the school day. Miu sighed heavily. “Well fucknuggets, what do we do now?”

“We could go to the classroom and see if we can help Ouma.” Ryoma offered.

“I think we should search for more clues.” Kaito admitted. “I want to try to find if there is anyone in this school who’s seen Ouma with his guard down.”

“Why?” Ryoma asked.

“You know why! If we know the real Ouma, we can find the guy he likes a hell of a lot faster!”

Suddenly, Miu jumped, shrieking joyfully. “Yes, YES! The security cameras! Oh, I’ve _always_ wanted an excuse to hack into our security system.” She turned to Kaito. “But if you wanna go through with this, Astronuts, you’ve gotta be patient. I can’t just hack into the security cameras today. I’ve gotta test the waters and come up with a plan to avoid getting caught.”

“You don’t need a plan. Barely anyone comes to the computer lab, and the only one capable of figuring out it was you if you did mess up is Fujisaki, and Fujisaki’s on vacation.”

“I won’t make mistakes! Who the hell do you think I am?” Miu objected. “But it’s not that I’m worried about. I need to go to the security room itself to extract the footage. And since we don’t know what we’re looking for, that part is going to take a long-ass time. I need to come up with a way to hack into the cameras and extract the footage in less than a half-an-hour. Anything more than that would mean that we’re screwed.”

She hopped back into her chair and started typing furiously. “Luckily, I can hack the cameras from here for now, so I’ll plan shit out here. Buckle up, asshats, because we’re not leaving anytime soon.”

“Wait, what do you want us to do?” Kaito questioned.

“Momota, get me a sandwich. Hoshi, head to the Mechanical Research Lab and get me a few hard drives and a monitor.”

“What? Those are just stupid chores!” Kaito complained.

“Stupid people get stupid jobs. Get going before I shove my boot up your ass!”

Kaito grumbled the entire way to the Dining Hall, but he wasn’t very annoyed. In fact, he was feeling very hopeful. For some reason, he had this gut feeling that something on the security cameras from the past few weeks would prove to be an asset in their investigation.

Kaito believed it.

 

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Team Kirumi, Day One**

All he could see was black. The world around him was a fuzzy, melted mess of numbness and pure emotion. Kokichi couldn’t hear his heartbeat.

He panicked.

There were many elements to Kokichi Ouma that were fake. However, the beat of his heart was something that had always grounded Kokichi. It was a constant, reoccurring, true event that reminded Kokichi that no matter how far into the world of lies he fell, that he was still alive.

But now, it was gone. Was he dead? Dying?

Was his heartbeat a lie all along?

Kokichi started to cry. He couldn’t feel tears, nor could he hear his sobbing, but he knew that he was crying. He wanted to stop. He needed to stop. What would his classmates think, when they saw the hateful, prideful, sadistic, emotionless Kokichi crying? What would D.I.C.E. think? What would Naoki think?

What would Shuichi think?

Supreme Leaders didn’t cry. But at the same time, Supreme Leaders didn’t fall in love. Maybe, Kokichi’s talent was a lie too. Kokichi was no Supreme Leader. He was nothing more than a crying child with impossible dreams, dying and alone.

Yes, he was dying. Dying from love.

How disgustingly ironic.

The numbness was starting to wash away, only to be replaced with pain. His throat burned like fire, and his lungs felt tight, as if something was wrapping around them. His heartbeat returned, which calmed him down ever so slightly, but it was beating too fast. Much too fast.

Kokichi cried harder.

The last time Kokichi had cried was when he was four years and three months old. It was the first of many cracks that would shatter Kokichi’s sanity, and his ability to trust others with his emotions.

Kokichi hadn’t interacted with his parents in over a month. He had four older siblings, who drew his parents’ attention 24/7. His oldest sibling had always liked to tell Kokichi that he was a mistake, and that his parents didn’t plan for him, and therefore didn’t care about him. Kokichi had accepted this as truth, but he didn’t care. If nobody cared for him, then he would make them care for him.

Kokichi had one older sister, who seemed to care for him. They rarely spoke, and when they did, it was Kokichi who instigated the conversation. But she would act kindly towards him. But Kokichi was starting to crave more than just monthly greetings. He wanted to do sibling things with her, like read together, or solve a puzzle. Something simple, where they could both have fun.

Kokichi decided on a puzzle, bringing it to her room. She was texting, which signified to Kokichi that she had time to play a game with him. He called her name a few times, and after being ignored, he shouted her name a little louder.

She heard him.

“Dammit, Kokichi, would you SHUT UP?!” She cried. “Nobody cares what you have to say! If you could stop being a piece of shit, and just die, I wouldn’t have to put up with you nagging me every five fucking seconds!”

Kokichi dropped the puzzle and ran out of the room, tears welling up in his eyes. His innocence was torn away from him as all the loneliness and neglect he had experienced throughout his life was solidified through that horrible betrayal.

Two weeks later, the Ouma family was murdered in front of Kokichi’s eyes. The murderer ran out of bullets when it came to Kokichi. The killer tried to reach for Kokichi neck to strangle him, but Kokichi was fast. He ran out of the house, never looking back. He didn’t cry then. He wanted to, but his tears were stopped when Kokichi simply told himself that he didn’t know how.

He couldn’t help but wonder how long his sister had been lying to him, and how long she had pretended to care. But although she lied to Kokichi throughout his childhood, her anger-driven shouting was nothing short of the truth.

Nobody cared for Kokichi. It was the truth, it really was. After all, it was how he had ended up in his current position. A high school dropout, half-conscious, dying from loneliness, and crying.

Kokichi wasn’t sure of where he was. But when he fully regained feeling and consciousness, he would abandon Hope’s Peak Academy. Naoki would do a good job of governing D.I.C.E., so Kokichi would abandon them, too. The thought of it hurt so much. In school, and in his organization, he cared for everyone so much. He had been unsure of his feelings in the past, but he was sure of it now.

Just as sure as he was about his heartbeat.

But Kokichi wouldn’t be hearing it much longer. Because of that, he would disappear. He had succeeded in making his classmates hate him. No one in D.I.C.E. cared enough about him to miss him. And Shuichi?

Shuichi would be happy. Shuichi didn’t need Kokichi to be there, nagging him, and constantly annoying him.

For the sake of what remained of Kokichi’s sanity, he needed to leave before Shuichi became a repeat of Kokichi’s sister. He needed to leave before the one person who he ever loved told him that he was alone.

Even if it was the truth.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kirumi had left briefly to go to the bathroom, and in her absence, Shuichi was greeted with the most horrifying sight.

Kokichi was crying in his sleep.

Soft, raspy sobs echoed throughout the classroom, and tears streamed from the Supreme Leader’s eyes. Kokichi’s face scrunched up in pain, as the sobbing grew more erratic and panicked.

“Ouma-kun…” Shuichi whispered, gently shaking Kokichi’s body. “Ouma-kun… Ouma-kun!”

No matter what Shuichi did, the Supreme Leader wouldn’t wake. If anything, Kokichi was crying even harder than before. Shuichi had never seen Kokichi cry. It was unthinkable. Impossible. It defied all logic.

And it was happening.

“What do I do… how can I comfort him?” Shuichi whispered, his eyes darting around the room desperately for something that could help him. Shuichi had no idea how someone would comfort an unconscious person, and as every second passed, Shuichi felt worse and worse. How many times would his heart be broken by this boy until it just stayed broken forever?

“I’ve returned- Saihara-kun, what’s going on?” Kirumi questioned, immediately noticing Kokichi’s crying when she walked through the door. She rushed to his side, looking concerned.

“I-I d-don’t know! He just started crying, a-and I don’t know how to help h-him!” Shuichi stuttered.

“It’s most likely a nightmare, however, I will check just in case. He may be in immense pain for an unknown reason” Kirumi said. She checked Kokichi’s fever, gave him a new rag, checked his breathing, and prodded his body in certain areas, checking for abnormalities.

After listening to his heart, Kirumi sighed. “Nothing new has arisen. Even if it did, it would most likely occur within his respiratory system.”

Shuichi was still pretty shaken from seeing Kokichi crying. He wasn’t ready for it. He truly was not prepared to see Kokichi in that state.

Shuichi’s emotions did not go unnoticed by the Ultimate Maid.

“Saihara-kun, I am quite curious about something regarding you and Ouma-kun.”

“What are you curious about?” Shuichi whispered.

“Are you, perhaps, in love with Ouma-kun?”

Shuichi seemed to choke on air. Whatever question he was expecting Kirumi to ask, he certainly was not even remotely expected that. “What? Me… in love with Ouma-kun? Why would that happen? I’m… I’m not gay…”

That was a lie. Shuichi had had known since elementary school that he was bisexual, but denying it all seemed like a really good idea. Unfortunately for Shuichi, Kirumi’s instincts saw straight through his lie.

“Every time I turn your way, you’re staring at Ouma-kun with lovesickness glistening in your eyes. I’m sorry for being blunt, but it’s the truth. You look at Ouma-kun the same way Amami-kun looks at Akamatsu-kun, and don’t think you’re the only one who’s noticed the developments between Momota-kun and Harukawa-kun.” Kirumi explained. “I fancy myself as someone who is skilled in observation, just like you. And although your lips do, your eyes don’t lie.”

“ _You can tell if anyone is lying through their eyes if you look hard enough.”_

That’s what Kokichi had said. And here was Kirumi, practically quoting his words. Maybe… maybe Shuichi really did like Kokichi? It would explain how he didn’t feel the same about Kaede anymore, and it would explain the butterflies, and his heart’s panicking…

No. It wasn’t possible.

“Keep thinking that if you want. I’m not…”

_“Thanks for keeping me safe.”_

_“S-Saihara-chan?”_

“I-I can’t be in love with him.”

“Are you sure about that?” Kirumi asked.

 

Shuichi looked towards Kokichi, sighing internally with relief every time the boy breathed.

“I’m not sure about anything anymore.

 

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 **First** **Day-** **Complete**

Kirumi volunteered to stay in the classroom with Kokichi. Everyone except for Maki’s team had returned to the classroom before dark. They cleaned the place up, and then headed to Rantaro’s house to discuss their findings. Shuichi wasn’t too thrilled to be leaving Kokichi’s side, but he trusted that Kirumi would take good care of the unconscious boy.

 

“This won’t be long. Or, it shouldn’t be.” Rantaro told everyone as they entered his living room. “Everyone should just explain what they did, and give a brief explanation on what they found. Then, tell everyone what you’re going to do tomorrow.”

 

“We can start with Tenko-chan’s group. Tenko-chan updated me on what they accomplished.” Himiko said. “They found that doctor guy, nyeh~ and they’re going by helicopter to Ouma’s organization.”

 

A chorus of excited voices rang through the living room.

 

“They did it!” Gonta exclaimed.

 

“Praise Atua!” Angie cried.

 

“Let’s not get off topic.” Shuichi urged. Thank you for informing us, Yumeno-san. Shinguji-kun, could you explain what your group did today?”

 

Korekiyo cleared his throat. “Yumeno, Shirogane, and I went to the library to research Ouma’s disease. An example of something we learned is that hanahaki attacks are usually triggered through the patient thinking about the one they love. This makes contact between the patient and the one they love very dangerous.We learned about many aspects of the disease that could actually help us find our mystery person, but I’ll go deeper into that another time.”

 

“Researching the disease wasn’t even the most exciting part, though.” Tsumugi said. “We met Fukawa-san, the Ultimate Writing Prodigy, in the library, and she was talking about how she wanted to break into the Leader Lab and steal Togami-kun’s diary.”

 

“Diary? Togami has a diary?”

 

“Apparently.” Korekiyo spoke. “What’s weirder, is that Togami has been talking a lot about Ouma lately, and it seems that he even knows about Ouma’s disease. Akamatsu, did Togami mention anything about that?”

 

“He wasn’t here today. My team will be going back to the Leader’s Lab tomorrow to interview him, since Kuzuryuu-kun informed us that he’ll be there.” Kaede notified. “Though it seems that we now have some new questions to ask him.”

 

“Did your team find anything, Akamatsu?” Ryoma asked.

 

“Yeah, we learned a bunch. Kuzuryuu-kun gave me an in-depth analysis on Ouma, which I think will be a huge help.” As she spoke, an idea flashed through Kaede’s head, that could’ve been groundbreaking. But she didn’t want Shuichi to scold her for going off topic, so she kept her silence.

 

“Sonia told Gonta stories of friends in lab. Gonta didn’t learn much helpful things, though.” Gonta said sadly.

 

“I rummaged through Ouma’s belongings in the lab. I didn’t find much, but I did find a suspicious looking key with a note tied to it reading, ‘do not touch.” Of course, I touched it, and took it with me. I was hoping it could unlock something that help us with the investigation. Rantaro recounted.

 

“Nice job, guys. Iruma-san, what did your group accomplish today?” Shuichi asked.

 

Miu placed her hands on her hips. “My group did a ton of shit-”

 

‘Lies. We pretty much only found out that Ouma’s parents were murdered when he was four. Actually, correction, his entire family was murdered, and he went missing.” Kaito interrupted.

 

“Dammit Momota, you fucking snitch!” Miu growled. “Whatever, we did get shit done. We’re planning to hack into the security cameras tomorrow and see if there’s any evidence recorded, so we prepared for that.”

 

“That sounds good.” Rantaro piped. “See? Quick and easy. Now we’re finished! Everyone, please try to get some rest. We have a big day ahead of ourselves.”

 

Everyone left the house except for Kaede, Rantaro, and Gonta, who had already planned to sleep over. After they laid out futons in Rantaro’s room and dressed for bed, Kaede pitched her earlier idea.

 

“Hey, guys, what if the diary Togami’s been seen with by Fukawa-san is actually Ouma’s?” She hypothesized.

 

“Gonta doesn’t understand. Why Byakuya take Kokichi’s dairy?”

 

“We’ll have to ask him that tomorrow, but that idea does make sense…” Rantaro agreed. “If Togami’s diary is actually Ouma’s, it would explain how Togami knew about Ouma’s disease. But I’ve never seen Ouma writing in anything remotely diary-like.”

  


“Oh, Kuzuryuu-kun mentioned something about Ouma-kun writing in a diary!” Kaede recalled. “He even called it, “Kokichi’s stupid diary,” as if it’s something Ouma-kun writes in often!”

 

“So he only writes in the diary during Lab Time? Hold on, what if the key I found unlocks his diary?” Rantaro guessed.

 

“Diary may help Gonta and friends find mystery man!” Gonta enthused.

 

“We have a lot to think about.” Kaede said. “Togami-kun’s going to be hard to interview, but he’ll know a lot, I can feel it. We should go to bed for now, though.

 

We’re going to need our rest if we want to survive a conversation with Togami-kun.”

 

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Team Maki, Day Two**

Maki had to admit, D.I.C.E.’s headquarters were breathtaking.

Naoki had taken them by helicopter to a remote location on a beautiful mountain range, with trees that sprouted leaves of every color occupying the land. Everything seemed normal at first, but Maki's eyes caught a gleam of metal from one of the tallest mountains. Her observation was confirmed to be true hen Naoki pressed a button, and that gleam revealed itself to be a large secret door. They landed the helicopter next to the many other aircrafts and cars within the mountain , before closing the secret door.

“This is our garage. In this HQ alone, D.I.C.E. keeps 3 helicopters, 5 small airplanes, 1 commercial size airplane, 50 cars of different brands and sizes, a monster truck, and a double-decker bus. This doesn’t include the automobiles and aircrafts from the other HQ’s, neither does it include our organization’s prized and quite stupid scooter and motorbike collection.” Naoki explained.

He led them to a door in the back of the massive garage. When he opened it, Maki felt overwhelmed by the sheer size of the room she was about to enter.

It was twice as large as the garage, and so full of life that it made Maki feel out of place. The room resembled a marvelous shopping mall. Hundreds of men and women of all ages and races dressed in white while wearing checkered scarves milled around the room, partaking in the many activities the room seemed to offer. There was an arcade next to a casino, a few mini restaurants, a gym facility, and many more. There was even a strange, pink place called the “Hotel Kumasutra,” which seemed to receive steady business.

Tenko was fawning over a dojo, her eyes shining and commenting on all the strong women who were punching and kicking the day away in there. Kiibo was glued to a movie trailer in front of a movie theatre, the colors, beautiful scenery, and perilous action mesmerizing the Ultimate Robot.

“How… how did you build all of this?” Maki questioned.

Naoki’s gaze was somewhere else as he answered Maki’s question. “We’ve been expanding these headquarters under these hills since Kokichi was ten. It was right after we took over the largest corporation in Canada, so the big bucks were really coming in. Whenever something good happened, Kokichi would take polls for what the next installment in these headquarters should be. We have everything here.”

“He builds a new facility every time this organization accomplishes something?”

“Kokichi doesn’t just do that to these headquarters. D.I.C.E. is scattered around the world, with eight other headquarters not including this one. Each of the founding members of D.I.C.E. runs one when Kokichi isn’t visiting.”

“Are you a founding member?”

“No. I joined five years after Kokichi started the organization.”

“I see. You must be pretty new then.”

Naoki laughed humorlessly. “Not even close. I’ve been a member for almost seven years now.”

Maki silently did the math, and she almost tripped over herself when she reached her answer. “Ouma created D.I.C.E. when he was _four_?!”

“That’s the story. All nine of the founding members, as well as Kokichi say that this is true.”

Maki could hardly believe what she was hearing. And she thought that she was young, for starting as an assassin at the age of ten. Meanwhile, four-year-old Kokichi was already running around the underworld, making political moves and striking deals with powerhouses while Maki didn’t even know how to read.

While they followed Naoki, Maki noticed that everyone who passed by seemed to know the guy. Their group was always getting stopped, and even though Naoki tried to stress that he was in a hurry, that didn’t change their fate. Most of the time, when they were stopped, it was people asking questions. Injury and illness questions, healthy lifestyle questions, math questions, and even relationship advice was asked of the surgeon.

“Why are people asking a degenerate male surgeon about dating?” Tenko muttered.

“Half of those questions are about whether or not they should ask who they like out. I’m known around D.I.C.E. as a pretty good judge of character, even at a single glance.” Naoki said matter-of-factly.

“Is that so? Then while we’re walking, can you tell us who you think Ouma might be in love with?” Maki asked.

“I can’t point out any specific people, but… hmmm... I feel like Kokichi would fall in love with someone who’s good-natured and kind. If anything, they would be the **complete opposite** of himself.”

“I see…” Maki murmured.

After what seemed like ages of walking, Maki started seeing less and less people as they went deeper into the base, until they reached a staircase. They descended the staircase, revealing a long hallway of rooms with thick, green glass doors. Only one of the doors had people standing guard in front of it, however, and that was the room Naoki led them into.

The room had white walls and cement flooring. It was terribly messy, with various medical tools and textbooks lining the desks and floors. All the chairs in the room had been knocked over, and the operating table in the center of the room had a fist-sized hole straight through it.

“Sorry about the mess.” Naoki apologized sheepishly. “After Kokichi denied my help, I had just enough time to come back here and throw a fit before Patty alerted me of you guys. Please, sit anywhere… if you can find anywhere to sit.”

Naoki made his way to a corner of the room, picking up a black desk chair. Then, he crossed the room to where a desk with a large computer stop it had been stationed, and he planted the chair down before sitting in it. “I threw this chair pretty far. I hope it isn’t broken.”

Tenko and Kiibo up righted other chairs, while Maki took a seat on the operating table. “So… you’ll cooperate with us, right? You’ll answer our questions?”

“I’ll answer any question that I decide is relevant to your investigation.”

“Fair enough.” Kiibo said.

“First off, could you help us to understand Ouma’s talent?” Maki asked.

Naoki took a scalpel from his drawer and started to play with it. “Kokichi is the Ultimate Supreme Leader not because of the size of his organization, or our goals, but because of how he leads it. D.I.C.E. was created to unify the world under our checkered scarf and turn it into a peaceful society without using violence. Some may say that this is impossible, or even childish. And they’re right… but they’re wrong. Kokichi can do it. We follow him because he’s brilliant, charismatic, and we’re always excited to see what he does next.

In D.I.C.E., you never have to worry about living a boring life. You’re constantly surrounded by good friends, good music, good food, and enough entertainment to last several lifetimes. Yet despite living a life as great as this, everyone is driven by a sense of purpose towards our goal, and a sense of respect and devotion towards Kokichi, meaning play is always balanced by work. Kokichi also makes every day a challenge. You must prove your worth in D.I.C.E., making it a paradise for those who want to do something more with their skills. Out of our current 12,309 members, seventy-two are Ultimates from Hope’s peak., including me, the Ultimate Surgeon, and Perpetually Milk, the Ultimate Information Broker, who you spoke with earlier. Those who aren’t Ultimates aren’t slackers either. All members are recruited, and Kokichi only recruits the best.

This paradise for the adventure-seeking created by Kokichi is not only special because of our strange mechanics, but also because of how it was built in the first place. Like you discovered earlier, Harukawa, Kokichi created D.I.C.E. after his family was murdered- when he was four. That was amazing enough, but any four-year-old can just make an organization. What matters is making it into something important, and gathering interest outside of other four-year-olds. That’s exactly what Kokichi did. He used his newfound maturity and prodigious intelligence and craftiness to capture hearts to create loyal followers. His goal of non-violence through laughter inspired hundreds, though I wasn’t one of them. I joined because Kokichi as a person fascinated me, though that’s another one of his discerning features.

In conclusion, Kokichi’s talent is his natural ability to sway hearts, build a following and keep it, and follow through on his promises as a leader. He was officially recognized as an Ultimate after Perpetually Patty Milk themself discovered that the organization had recruited half of our class from Hope’s Peak, and they tattled to Kyosuke Munakata, one of my old classmates, who told Jin Kirigiri. That’s really all you need to know.”

That was a lot for Maki to take in. If Kokichi’s personality wasn’t confusing enough, his talent had always made Maki’s head spin. But now that she knew, she couldn’t deny that Kokichi’s talent was overwhelming, and probably the most potent in the class.

However, while Maki and Kiibo believed Naoki’s words, Tenko’s pride as a woman who didn’t believe what males said got in her way of listening to The Ultimate Surgeon.

“I don’t believe it. You’re a degenerate male, so you probably just want to lead us away from what we need to hear. None of this will help us! If you just want to sabotage us, then why are you pretending like do you want to help us so badly?!” Tenko growled. Maki internally face-palmed. Tenko was a wonderful girl, but she needed to get over that blind prejudice of hers. Especially if she wanted to live. It didn’t matter how skilled at Aikido Tenko was. The way Naoki’s veins popped in his muscular arms as he held his scalpel told Maki that he was not happy to hear Tenko say that, and that he wasn’t afraid to perform an unplanned… surgery.

“The reason I want to help so badly? Pretending?! Kokichi’s like a son to me. I save him from a bullet wound when he was nine, and got pulled in by his charisma and mysteriousness. I want to see him live more than anything, and you think I’m pretending?!!” Naoki paused, unclenching the scalpel. He took a few deep breaths, trying to calm himself down. “I’ve just been answering your questions, but if you don’t find it helpful, then I’ll give you my own information- Until  Kokichi got hanahaki, **Kokichi didn’t know what love was**.”

“Huh? He didn’t know what love was? How do you not know what love is?” Tenko protested.

Naoki looked down at his shoes, folding his hands. “Kokichi never told me much about his situation, but he’s implied that he was neglected as a child. He was forced to mature faster than any other child I’ve ever seen and adapted to the adult world without ever experiencing a warm childhood. Love was something Kokichi longed for but was never taught how to give.”

“That would certainly explain his childish personality.” Maki noted. “It’s almost as if Ouma has been trying to make up his lost years of carefree happiness in his teen years.”

“Exactly.” Naoki agreed. “Though, even before he got hanahaki, that never quite worked for Kokichi. He longed to be happy and have fun, but he was always reminded that he wasn’t allowed to be a child every time he looked into the mirror.” Intensity flared around Naoki. “Kokichi kept himself going throughout the years by constantly lying to himself. Even now, he’s unsure about who he truly is. On top of that, he has hanahaki. He’s never experienced love before, and now he has to face the reality of his situation. Love, an emotion that Kokichi knows isn’t a lie, is killing him. The truth is killing him, and Kokichi _hates_ that.”

Maki never thought that she would ever sympathize with Kokichi Ouma of all people, but she now found herself finding more and more of herself within him. Before Kaito came along, Maki was an empty shell with no heart. She killed just so that the place that raised her could keep receiving funding.

Who was Kokichi’s ‘Kaito?’ Who introduced the Supreme Leader to love?

“We’ve done him wrong… we judged him, and we didn’t look deep enough. Forget us hating him, he probably hates us. And we can’t even blame him for doing so…” Kiibo lamented.

But Naoki shook his head. “You’re wrong, and that’s precisely why I need you to help our leader. I hope this talk has helped you, but you must hurry to Kokichi, since time is running out.

The truth you are missing, is that Kokichi hates absolutely no one except for himself.”

 

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Team Iruma, Day Two**

“Yo ho yo ho, off to hack the school system we gooo!” Miu cheered in a way that was much to light for the situation. Miu had already informed Ryoma and Kaito that they wouldn’t be joining her in the camera room, but Kaito was okay with that. If they somehow got caught, Kaito would have nothing to do with it.

 

Kaito was pretty skeptical about this whole diary to be honest. Kokichi was a liar. There was no way in hell that anything he wrote in that diary was actually real. It was probably a really elaborate prank meant to make everyone hate him even more.

 

Once they reached the camera room, Miu stopped them.

 

“Hey, dipshits. Don’t make to much of a fuss. I’m not Fujisaki, so I’m gonna need at least a good fifteen minutes to hack into the cameras, and another fifteen minutes to analyze all the data. I can’t have anyone catching us in that half-hour, so don’t do anything suspicious.”

 

“Got it. But seriously, fifteen minutes? That’s amazing.” Kaito admired.

 

Kaito knew the moment the praise left his mouth that he had made a mistake. A snarky grin broke out onto Miu’s face, and she placed her hands haughtily on her hips. “Of course it’s amazing! I’m me, y’know? Well, see ya, dimwits.” She enthused. Then, she disappeared into the camera room, and Kaito and Ryoma waited. They spent the time in silence, not speaking until Ryoma finally broke the ice.

 

“Hey Momota, I was thinking about something.” Ryoma said.

 

Kaito turned his head to the Ultimate Tennis Pro, a little worried about what he was going to say. “Do you still think I’m Ouma’s crush?”

 

Ryoma blinked. “Well, yes, but that’s not what I wanted to say.” He stared off into space. “Before Ouma’s disease wa revealed to us, he spent four days in his dorm room, suffering through his disease. I was wondering if there might be clues in Ouma’s dorm.”

 

Kaito nodded understandingly. “That sounds good! But won’t the other guys in the dorm react poorly to us breaking into someone’s room.”

 

“Most of the occupants are out, since it’s the weekend, so we shouldn’t have much of a problem breaking in.” Ryoma explained.

 

“Understandable.” Kaito smiled. “If we don’t have any more jobs after Iruma’s done with the security cameras, then we can do that!”

 

As if on cue, Miu burst through the door, looking queasy and terrified. “H-hey, you two? You s-s-should c-come see this.” She panted. Kaito and Ryoma immediately jumped to their feet, following her into the camera room.

 

She lead them to a grand set-up of computers and monitors, each showing different parts of the Academy. Miu pointed to one in the middle of the setup. “Focus on t-that one.”

 

After composing herself, Miu unpaused the footage. The monitor showed the hallway outside of their classroom. The date in the corner of the monitor told Kaito that this footage was recorded the day everyone in the class left for their week-long talent project- the day Kokichi disappeared in his helicopter and never returned until it was almost too late.

 

“I was watching a bunch of footage at once, y’know, as this shit was downloading, but then my eyes caught this.” Miu explained.

 

The hallway was empty, but a few minutes into the video, Kokichi Ouma himself burst through the classroom door, slamming it behind him. He started to run into the direction of the stairs and bathrooms, but he collapsed, backing himself of against the wall, horror displayed across his face as he clasped a hand over his mouth. Kokichi fumbled through his pockets, pulling out a brown paper bag. Kaito could just barely make out the blood that was seeping through Kokichi’s fingers. Kokichi brought the paper bag up to his lips.

 

Kaito had never seen anyone in that much pain.

 

Kokichi took a small remote control out of his pocket, pressing the button. When he put the remote control back into his pocket, he tried to stand up, but he wobbled, almost falling back to the ground. When he grounded himself, Kokichi threw the paper bag full of flowers and blood deep into the trash can. He took a deep breath, painstakingly changing his expression from a pained, solemn one to a cheeky smile, before running back into the classroom. Miu paused the footage.

 

“He did all that… and we never had a clue.” Kaito whispered sadly.

 

Ryoma looked extremely guilty. “Those walls aren’t thin, either. He probably heard everything bad that we said about him.” His eyes narrowed. “However, this could also be evidence. Someone in the room could’ve said something bad about him, and if that person was the one Kokichi loves, it could’ve triggered his hanahaki. This could help us narrow down the suspects.” He glanced at Kaito, who shook his head.

 

“W-wait, don’t l-look away just y-yet.” Miu stuttered. “There’s m-more.”

 

She unpause the footage, and they continued watching

 

The next minute was entirely uneventful. But during the time Kaito spent staring blankly at the screen, he noticed something off about the floor. The camera’s quality was terrible, so he couldn’t quite make it out, but it seemed as if there was a silver stick on the ground, sitting directly where Kokichi had been.

 

That’s when someone entirely new and unexpected showed up. They looked around the hallway suspiciously. Then, they knelt to the ground and picked up the unusual stick. That’s when Kaito realized that the silver stick was actually a key- a key belonging to Kokichi.

 

The person who took the key must’ve been watching Kokichi.

 

And that person was Byakuya Togami.

 

“What the hell…” Ryoma trailed off. “So that’s how he knew.”

 

“That’s a key, right? That’s a key that Kokichi left, and Togami picked up.” Kaito muttered.

 

“Kaede’s group is meeting with Togami right now, aren’t they? We need to tell them to ask Togami why the hell he was stalking Kokichi, and what he did with that key.”

 

“O-on it. I’ll text h-her.” Miu offered, whipping out her cell phone.

 

Kaito cursed, leaning against the wall. “This is getting more complicated by the second.”

 

“I agree, but we can’t just give up now. We still have more we need to do.” Ryoma said. H turned to Miu. “Is there anything else you need us to look at?”

 

Miu finished her text and put her phone away. “No… not anything yet, anyways.” She switched off the monitors, before turning them back on, reverting them to their original state before Miu hacked into them. “There. All the security footage of the past three months is in this beautiful fucking hardrive. I’ll need time to go through it all, so we’re leaving. I’ll need some help, cuase I can’t watch three month’s worth of shit in one fucking night.”

 

“I don’t think Hoshi and I can help you on that one. We were going to go raid Ouma’s dorm room for clues.” Kaito said.

 

“Fuck. Well, Kaede said that Korekiyo’s team is finished with their crap, so I’ll see if those fucktards can help.” Miu replied. Kaito, Ryoma, and Miu exited the camera room, saying goodbye before they split.

 

“Going over months of security footage does not sound like a fun way to spend a night.” Kaito yawned.

 

“That’s not our job. Right now, we need to focus on how we’re going to get into Ouma’s dorm room without getting caught.” Ryoma said flatly. “Entering another student’s room without their permission violates the dorm rules, and can land us in big trouble. However we go about this, we must be smart.”

 

“Where is Kokichi’s room anyways?”

 

“Second floor, room 21. You’ll find it easily.”

 

“You know the place better than I do. I don’t exactly live there.” Kaito pointed out.

 

Ryoma glared at him. “I know that.” He notified. “Luckily, I heard some of the other guys talking about plans for the day, so most of the occupants should be gone. I’m just worried about that Imposter guy, because he’s not only smart, but he never has plans, so he’s bound to be there.” Ryoma wrinkled his nose. “And depending on how he’s dressed, he’s a huge fucking snitch.”

 

“Just what we need.” Kaito laughed sarcastically. They now stood in front of the Hope’s Peak Academy boy’s dorms, which was a surprisingly large building. It had three floors, with a common room, kitchen, and communal baths on the first floor, twenty-five rooms on the second floor, and twenty-five rooms on the third floor.

 

“Well, let’s go in.” Ryoma said.

 

They walked through the door and into the common room, which was decked out with comfortable sofas, a flat screen TV, a few tables, and a pool table. Sitting at the dining table, reading a large textbook while eating fried chicken, Ultimate Imposter, who, if not for his considerable body mass, Kaito would’ve mistaken him for the Ultimate Moral Compass, Kiyotaka Ishimaru.

 

“ _...Depending on how he’s dressed, he’s a huge fucking snitch._ ” Ryoma had warned.

 

Shit.

 

“Ah, Hoshi-kun! Welcome back! Are you ready to study for classes next week? Wasting time is not good! Oh, you brought a friend! Hello, Kaito Momota! I hope Hoshi-kun has explained to you the rules of this dormitory, and I will ensure that you uphold them! Study hard!”

 

Kaito was already getting a headache, and he could tell that Ryoma wasn’t any more pleased about their situation than Kaito was. “Uh, actually, we’re just dropping by. Kaito forgot something in my room, so he’s going to go get it.”

 

The Ultimate Imposter Blinked. “I see, but remember to uphold your duties as a student and study! Do not waste time on pointless matters!”

 

“Oh, uh… Ishimaru… I was wondering if I could ask you some questions… about… uh… morals?” Ryoma asked, sounding unsure of his own question.

 

The Ultimate Imposter seemed delighted by Ryoma’s question. “Absolutely! Is there any specific topic you would like to discuss?”

 

Ryoma quickly glanced in Kaito’s direction, his eyes conveying a clear message: ‘I can’t last long- please hurry.’ The Ultimate Tennis Pro turned back to The Ultimate Imposter, feigning interest in his words.

 

Kaito hurried up the stairs to the second floor, searching or room 21, which turned out to be at the back of the hallway.

 

Unfortunately for Kaito, Ryoma had been so kind as to leave off an important detail- each room had an electronic lock. The only way to unlock the door was to enter a six-digit pin.

 

“Dammit Hoshi… okay, let’s see. Kokichi would do something really stupid, right?”

 

Kaito guessed some numbers, but was greeted with a buzzing sound. A robotic voice spoke through the lock.   


“ _Incorrect. You have (2) more tries._ ”

 

“What? No way!” Kaito cried. He punched in more numbers.

 

“ _Incorrect. You have (1) more tries._ ”

  


“God dammit!” Kaito complained. He racked his brain for the stupidest combination of numbers he could imagine. He played his trump card, a combination of six numbers only an asshole like Kokichi would make their password. Sending a quick prayer to the aliens, Kaito punched in the numbers.

 

“ _Welcome, Ouma._ ”

 

“That was RIGHT?!” Kaito marvelled. No, of course it was. Only Kokichi would make their password ‘666420.’ Laughing to himself, Kaito opened the door to Kokichi rooms… entirely unprepared for what he was about to witness.

 

Kokichi’s room looked like hell. The bedsheets were blood-stained and tossed across the room, while flower petals and bunches of bloodied blooms were scattered across the room. Empty Panta bottles had been stacked on the nightstand, and important looking documents had found themselves anywhere but the desk, which was taken up entirely by a large drawing board. The drawing board was occupied by a long, white sheet of paper, on which a picture of an unusual looking bear had been drawn in crayon.

 

If the bedroom wasn’t trashed, then the bathroom certainly was. Even more flower petals lied in this room, as well as trash bags absolutely full of forget-me-nots and roses. There were at least ten bottles of hand soap next to the sink. Worst of all, scribbled in permanent marker on the mirror were words that Kaito never thought he’d see Kokichi describe himself with.

 

“ **Worthless Monster.** ”

 

Kaito had never in his life felt so, horribly guilty. The guilt burned his insides like a wildfire, the heat condensing itself in scorching tears that crawled their way down Kaito’s cheek. But he couldn’t pity himself. Kokichi must have felt ten times worse than the stupid guilt Kaito was feeling. But no matter how many times Kaito told that to himself, he couldn’t bear to be in that bathroom any longer.

 

Investigating the room would be no easy task. Between the messiness of the room and the pain Kaito experienced every second he had to be there, Kaito thought that he would never finish. He felt worse that he was completely invading Kokichi’s privacy. But he explored the room, searching every nook and cranny for anything that could be of help.

 

Despite how the room looked, Kokichi barely owned anything. Kaito found a few pictures of Kokichi with friends in matching outfits, all of them wearing clown masks. On the back of the photograph, someone with terrible handwriting had scrawled, “D.I.C.E. founding members.” Kokichi looked so incredibly young in the photo. He couldn’t have been more than seven years old. But he smiled anyways, everyone around him looking equally happy.

 

Those were some of the only personal possessions Kokichi kept in his room. After looking almost everywhere, Kaito was sure he wouldn’t find anything of use. But then, he looked under the bed.

 

There was a wilted bouquet of flowers lying all by it’s lonesome under the bed. Kaito fished it out. The flowers were positively dead, and Kaito was worried that if he didn;t handle the bouquet carefully, the flowers were going to crumble to dust. A black ribbon was tied around them, and attached to the ribbon was a note.

 

“ _Dear ----------”_ The name the letter was supposed to be written to had been crossed out, but Kaito kept on reading.

 

_“I know we don’t know each other well, and I can’t imagine what you think of me. You’re the first person to ever see through me, and the first to ever try and get to know me. I don’t really know how to say this, but those kind gestures warmed my heart in a way I didn’t know was possible. On May fourth, could you meet me at the cafe near the park?_

 

 _-Kokichi Ouma_ ”

 

Kaito’s eyes widened at the note. He wasn’t quite sure what to make of it, but he had a feeling that whatever he just found would be extremely helpful in finding Kokichi’s beloved.

 

He hit the bouquet under his jacket, being extra careful as to not damage the delicate flowers. He left the room, feeling relieved to not be surrounded by constant guilt.

 

Ryoma looked ready to drop dead by the time Kaito returned. The Ultimate Imposter was still talking about morals, and as a former death row inmate, Kaito was pretty sure Ryoma did not want to hear it. The moment he spotted Kaito, he jumped out of his seat. Ryoma never showed emotions, which is why Kaito was so surprised from the amount of joy in Ryoma’s eyes.

 

“Momota! I see you’ve got your item! Sorry, Ishimaru, I’ve gotta go. See ya.”

 

Ryoma sprinted as fast as he could out the door, with Kaito on his heels and the Ultimate Imposter yelling something about morals.

 

They began their trek back to their classroom.

 

“Did you find anything?” Ryoma asked. Kaito pulled out the bouquet and handed it to Ryoma, who inspected it thoroughly.

 

“I guess Ouma bought flowers for our mystery boy, and didn’t have the balls to give them to him. However, this note could really help. Do you like that cafe near the park mentioned in the note?”

 

“Of course, who doesn’t?” Kaito said. “But even though I like it, I’m not the one Ouma likes.”

 

“We’ll see about that.” Ryoma smirked, handing Kaito the bouquet. Now feeling more curious about Kokichi’s mystery man than ever, Kaito and Ryoma argued the entire way back to the classroom, armed with evidence.

 

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Team Kaede, Day Two**

When morning came around, Kaede, Rantaro, and Gonta were a flurry of clothing and breakfast.

“C’mon, we need to hurry! Who knows how long Togami-kun will be In the research lab!” Kaede called, brushing her hair and eating a piece of toast simultaneously.

“No, Gonta overslept! Rushing, rushing!” Kaede could hear the gentle giant shouting, but she couldn’t see him. He sounded very stressed.

“Everyone calm down, we’ll make it in time.” Rantaro soothed, standing at the door out of the mansion dressed and ready to go. For all the effort he put into his appearance, Rantaro was extremely fast. So fast, it made Kaede kind of angry.

Kaede swallowed her last bit of toast, and clipped her pins into her hair. “I’m ready! Gokuhara-kun, are you good? Do you need help?!” Kaede called.

“Gonta is ready!” Gonta shouted back, rushing into the living room at the same time as Kaede. Rantaro smiled at them, his gaze full of determination. “Okay, then. Let’s go get some information out of the haughtiest asshole in the world.”

Because it was the weekend, Hope’s Peak Academy was almost entirely empty, except for the class of frantic kids trying to save their dying friend. Before Kaede’s team went to the Leader’s Lab, they stopped by the classroom. An exhausted-looking Kirumi was taking a nap on the floor, using Shuichi’s jacket as a pillow. Shuichi sat next to where Kokichi slept, keeping a silent vigil over the frail leader. He barely looked up to greet them.

“Hello.” He spoke gently. Kaede couldn’t tell whether his quiet voice was a product of the sad aura Kaede felt surrounding him, or if he was trying not to wake Kirumi. Either way, Kaede certainly did not want to wake up the tired maid, so she spoke softly too.

“Hey Saihara-kun… Is Ouma-kun alright?”

“I hope so. Not much has changed. Luckily, he fever went down.” Shuichi informed her.

“How about Tojo-san?” Kaede inquired.

“She stayed here overnight and watched over Ouma-kun. She told me that she never slept, so I ordered her to go to sleep. I don’t like it when she overexerts herself.”

“None of us do.” Rantaro confirmed.

“Now, are you okay?” Kaede asked.

Shuichi flinched, as if that was the one question he didn’t want asked. “I’ll be fine. I’m just a little shaken by all this… that’s all.” He said softly. There was longing in his eyes. It was stronger than the longing she saw in his timid gaze when he looked at her, though she hadn’t seen a glimpse of his former crush on her ever since Kokichi first disappeared. Shuichi… wasn’t okay. If the one Kokichi liked wasn’t Shuichi, Kaede dreaded the possibility of the detective getting hanahaki himself.

“By the way, Shinguji-kun’s team came in here at around ten o’clock. They finished investigating, and are going to spend the rest of their time gaining a deeper understanding of what they found.” Shuichi murmured. “He told me to tell anyone who came by that they’re available to help any team who needs it.”

“Thanks Saihara.” Rantaro said.

The room was silent for a moment.

“Okay… take care of yourself. We’re going to go meet with Togami now.”

“Mhm. Good luck.”

Kaede slowly closed the door to the classroom to minimize the creaking noises, and they started on their way to the Leader Research Lab.

“Wow… Saihara didn’t look too good. He was looking at Ouma like he was already dead.” Rantaro observed.

Gonta gasped. “Please don’t say that! Kokichi is not dead! Kokichi is not dead!”

“I know that… just saying.”

“As much as I want to know why Saihara-kun looked so sad, focusing on how we’re going to get even a sliver of information out of Togami-kun is more important to the task at hand.” Kaede insisted. “His pride as a cold, calculating sort of enigma might keep him from answering our questions, and we cannot let that happen.”

“If it does, we’ll have no control over it. The least we can do is take the diary back.” Rantaro proposed. He placed his hand into his pockets, likely holding the key to Kokichi’s diary.

“Would Togami not give diary? That is un-gentlemanly, diary is not his!” Gonta gushed.

“Sorry Gokuhara-kun, but Togami-kun isn’t exactly a gentleman, per say. He’s not kind to others like you are, and he rarely cares for anyone but himself. Because of this, he might try to verbally attack you, but don’t listen to what he says, okay?”

“Okay! Gonta is strong! Gonta will not be sad.”

Kaede’s phone buzzed, and when she took it out, she found a text from Miu.

 **Miu Iruma:** hey cowtits. My group found some shit while u were sucking dick.

 **Me:** …I’m going to pretend that I didn’t read that. What did you find?

 **Miu Iruma:** the shitty blonde moneydick u guys r about to meet with knew bout cockichis disease cause he was stalking him

 **Miu Iruma:** he also picked a key up from off t he ground that cockichi musta left

 **Me:** Is that so? Thank you for the information.

 **Me:** By the way, Shinguji-kun’s group is finished, so if you ever need help, text him.

 **Miu Iruma:** uh huh byee

Kaede put her phone away, feeling a rush of adrenaline pump through her veins. “The diary is Ouma-kun’s, one hundred percent. Iruma-san just confirmed it. Apparently, Togami-kun was stalking Ouma-kun, and he stole the key from him when he left it on the ground.”

“You nailed it, Kaede. Nice job.” Rantaro praised.

They stood in front of the Leader’s Lab door once more, even more nervous than last time, but much more prepared. They were going to make Togami talk, no matter what it took.

The Leader’s Lab was much emptier and cleaner than the last time Kaede’s team visited. However, one side of the room, the side painted green, was now filled with neatly stacked books, binders and documents. Sitting on a golden throne reading a book was the Ultimate Affluent Progeny himself, Byakuya Togami.

Byakuya looked up from his book for a second, looking very uninterested, yet somewhat disgusted. “Well, look who we have showing up at the Leader’s Lab of all places. Plebians. I cannot fathom why a lowly pianist, a hobo adventurer, and a big, _stupid brute_ would dare present themselves in a place of standing such as this.”

Rantaro scowled. “Hey, calling Gonta a ‘big, ugly brute’ is like calling sugar bitter. It’s not true at all, and _you just don’t do it._ ”

“It’s okay… Gonta used to it.” Gonta said sadly.

Byakuya didn’t look up from his book. “I can call that savage whatever I wish. None of you can touch me.”

Kaede took out her phone. “That’s it. I’m calling Harukawa-san. This bastard is dead.”

Byakuya smiled coldly. “And now you’re calling me names? That’s quite hypocritical, don’t you think?”

“Everyone, please stop! Gonta does not like fighting. Gonta think we should not fight when Kokichi in trouble!” He turned to Byakuya, who’s attention was grabbed the moment Gonta said Kokichi’s name. “Please help Kokichi. We need Togami help to heal Kokichi. If not… Kokichi will die!” He cried.

Byakuya narrowed his eyes. “What happened to Kokichi?”

“Shouldn’t you know, Togami-kun? After all, you stalked Ouma-kun, and stole his diary.” Kaede accused.

The Ultimate Affluent Progeny smirked. He put down his book and folded his hands. “You’ve done your research, haven’t you? If all of you know about Kokichi’s little problem as well, then I can assume that he either told you, or that he let the information slip through more destructive means. However, the Kokichi I know would never choose option one, therefore, I’m going to hypothesize that my dear Kokichi vomited up his guts in front of his teensy little friends, and you want answers.”

Kaede felt sick to her stomach. “Yeah, we want answers. And you see to have most of them.”

Byakuya stared blankly at Kaede’s team, before letting out an annoyed sigh. In one fluid motion, he tore the covering off the book in his hands, revealing a purple hardback journal with silvery pages. “I do, don’t I?”

“That diary… belong to Kokichi?” Gonta asked.

“Yes, this is a diary, and it belongs to poor Kokichi Ouma, the two-faced lying brat with hanahaki. Unfortunately for all of you, who are probably trying to find out who it is that Kokichi loves… the name of said person is never mentioned in this book. There are quite detailed scenes of Kokichi and this mystery person frolicking together, though. So unless you want to read two hundred pages of bad Kokichi fanfiction, I suggest that you don’t read the diary.” Byakuya deadpanned.

“We need all the evidence we can get. If someone in our class can recognize any of the scenes Ouma’s written, then our case is solved.” Rantaro reasoned. He dug into his pocket and pulled out the silver key to Kokichi’s diary. “Besides, I found the key.”

Byakuya looked very, very annoyed. “So that’s where the key went… I’ve been looking for it.”

“Why do you want to keep Ouma’s diary anyways? Are you even trying to help Ouma? If not, then please hand over the diary to a group of people who are doing everything in their power to make sure they don’t lose an innocent life.” Rantaro growled.

“You mistake my intentions. I never planned on trying to help Kokichi. In fact, I had been following him for a few days to gather blackmail that would send Kokichi into rage. However, after I witnessed him vomiting flowers, I decided that I must back down. I would never, ever back down in any other situation, however, no man in their right mind would attempt to downtrodden a hanahaki patient. That is beyond cruel.”

“You’re not exactly the type to be nice, so how do we know what you’re saying is true?”

Togami’s steely glare intensified. “I need Kokichi to live. Rising to the top in this world is my destiny. Yet, mankind is so very far below me, that I can’t imagine my ascent being pleasurable. But crushing another competent leader to a pulp? Yes… that’s what I need Kokichi for. Togami corporation, under my command, was going to destroy D.I.C.E. and claim their power.”

“Huh… but why you take key? Why you read Kokichi’s diary?” Gonta questioned.

“I’ll give you three more questions. All of you are wasting my time… but I took the key because I knew exactly what it was for. If the name of Kokichi’s supposed love was in his diary, then my little problem would be solved much quicker.”

“Why are you making this about you? Ouma is dying, and all you can focus on his yourself? Pathetic.” Rantaro ranted.

“Pathetic? Do you know what’s truly pathetic? What’s truly pathetic, is that you just wasted your second question by calling me pathetic. Congratulations, you dunce. You have one more question left.” Byakuya sneered.

Kaede was beside herself with anger, but she knew that if she wanted to get what she wanted, she would have to keep herself level-headed.

“Please give us the diary so we can save Ouma-kun’s life.” She pleaded.

Byakuya pushed up his glasses. “And if I say no? What will you do then?”

Kaede narrowed her eyes. “Then I will turn this into a demand. I demand that you give me Ouma-kun’s diary, so I can leave this toxic place and save my friend’s life.”

Kaede braced herself for resistance. She expected the Ultimate Affluent Prodigy

“Fine. But one one condition: you have to leave.”

“Gladly.”

Byakuya tossed the diary to Kaede, who caught it before it hid the ground. He had locked it again before giving it to her, but luckily, she had the key.

The two parties did not exchange anymore words as Kaede led her team out of the Leader Research Lab.

“Tch, what an asshole.” Rantaro muttered.

“You rarely lose your cool, Rantaro.” Kaede noticed.

“Yeah, and rarely do people insult Gokuhara, either. I hate when that happens. It baseless, stupid, and completely untrue.”

“But Gonta used to it-”

“That’s the problem! You shouldn’t be used to it!” Rantaro argued. He took a deep breath. “Fine. What are we going to do now that we have the diary? Should we read it?”

Kaede shook her head. “I’m going to give it to Saihara-kun.”

“Huh?” Gonta blinked. “Why?”

“He’s my prime suspect. If what Togami-kun said is true, and Ouma-kun wrote many scenes of him with this person, then if Saihara-kun is the mystery person, then he should recognize some of the scenes, right?”

“Yeah, sure.” Rantaro agreed. “But you saw how he looked back there at the classroom. “Are you sure he’s in the right state of mind to be reading something so intimate?”

“I… I’m not sure.” Kaede stared at the purple diary. “I really hope he’s doing alright…”

 

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Team Kirumi, Day Two**

Shuichi wished his heart stopped beating so fast.

 

Butterflies flew around in his stomach, and everything in his world was slow. Shuichi was normally an anxious person, so these feelings weren’t unusual. But this wasn’t a panic attack, and neither was it the nervous dance his heart would perform when Kaede was around. Every time he looked at Kokichi, his heart wanted to leap out of his chest. The idea of Kokichi never waking was was haunting him, and looming over his head in a cloud of packaged anxiety.

 

When Korekiyo came into the classroom, Shuichi barely had the strength to acknowledge his presence. When Kaede’s group arrived to say hello, it took all Shuichi had

 

He was just so… overwhelmingly sad…

 

He wished it would stop.

 

The conversation he had the other day with Kirumi wouldn’t get out of his head, either. He couldn’t believe that she thought he liked Kokichi. He liked Kaede… right? What Shuichi felt for Kokichi was nothing more than an overprotective… parental sort of love… right? He didn’t want to hug Kokichi because he liked him. He didn't want to hug Kokichi at all. Nope. Not in the slightest.

 

“ _You would make an awesome husband, y’know!_ ”

 

Shuichi’s face felt warm. He clutched his cheeks, trying to make the warmth go away. He wanted that image of Kokichi smiling at him so very brightly to also go away.

 

“You’re blushing.”

 

Kirumi was awake, slowly sitting up and smiling at Kokichi. She looked refreshed, though the worry that had initially appeared on her face when Kokichi passed out the first time still hadn’t disappeared.

 

“I’m not blushing.” Shuichi stated.

 

“I have never in my life seen someone blush harder.”

 

“I’m. Not. Blushing.” Shuichi whined, now hiding his entire face from the smirking maid.

 

“Yes, of course. Shuichi Saihara is not blushing. Duly noted.”

 

Shuichi pulled his knees close to his chest. “Hypothetically, even if I did like Ouma-kun, he’s in love with someone else. I’m not wishful enough of or immature enough to fall in love with someone who’s fallen in love with someone else.”

 

“Oh, but you already did.”

 

“When?”

 

“Akamatsu-san”

 

Shuichi buried his face into his legs. “How did you know about that?”

 

“Everyone knew. For someone who works in the business of uncovering the truth, you are certainly quite terrible at covering it up.”

 

Suddenly, the door to the classroom opened, revealing The Ultimate Magician, Himiko. The petite red haired girl was holding a basket full of muffins.

 

“Nyeh~ sorry I’m late. I burnt the first batch.” She drawled lazily, while sitting down next to Kirumi and Shuichi. “What did I miss?”

 

“Yumeno-san, did you know about Saihara-kun’s… little crush?”

 

Himiko took a big bite out of a chocolate muffin. “On Akamatsu-chan? Of course. Everyone does. Or did. I don’t think you like her anymore. Or… do you?”

 

“Please stop teasing me. Please.” Shuichi pleaded.

 

Himiko looked indifferent to Shuichi’s plea, but Kirumi took his words to heart. “You’re right. I have stepped out of bounds as a maid. But as you are one of my masters, it is my job as your made to help you improve yourself, and coming to realize your feelings instead of pushing them away is very important.”

 

Shuichi didn’t know how he felt. His feelings towards Kaede were feeling weaker, while his feelings towards Kokichi had jumped by leaps and bounds. He didn’t know how to feel, though he really, really wanted to understand.

 

What Shuichi didn’t know, was that the Ultimate Supreme Leader was on the verge of waking up. And when he did, what he did next would be something so unexpected, that it shook the class to it’s very core- and nobody saw it coming.

 

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Second Day, Complete**

By the end of Saturday, everybody made it back to the classroom. Korekiyo’s team was in the corner of the classroom, huddled around a book. Miu’s team was silent and sitting in their seats, all of them silent. Kirumi and Himiko were still tending to Kokichi, and Shuichi sat at Kokichi’s side, pouring over Kokichi’s diary.

 

With every turn of the page, Shuichi got angrier. Not with hate, not with disdain, but jealousy. Pure jealousy raged through his veins for reasons he couldn’t understand. Something about him longed to be the person Kokichi kept on talking about in his diary. And really, that was almost all the diary was. What was truly annoying, was that Kokichi never addressed this person by name, only calling them, “beloved.”

 

“ _My beloved came to talk to me again today during lunch. He wanted to talk more about me, but I was really distracted the whole time. The way his hair glittered like the ocean in the sun made me want to pet him, and his eyes looked so gold as he stared down at me that it made me want to kiss him right then and there. But he would probably slap me._ ”

 

Shuichi frowned, his heart tightening in his chest. Just who could make Kokichi feel this way?

 

The door to the classroom opened, revealing an exhausted-looking Maki, along with Tenko and Kiibo, who looked equally tired. “I apologise for our lateness. I hope we can start exchanging information”

 

“Can I go first?” Kaito asked, raising his hand. He held in the air a wilted bouquet of flowers tied together with a black bow. “I found this is Ouma’s room. I think he meant to give this to whoever we’re looking for-” Kaito yawned. “-But he never did.”

 

“Good job, Momota-kun. Ah, my team discovered that Kokichi had a diary. Togami-kun has been babysitting it this whole time.” Kaede revealed.

 

“Yes, Gonta and friends talk with Togami. Togami gave Gonta…” Gonta almost dozed off, but Himiko shook him awake. “...Gonta get diary from Togami. Saihara reading Ouma’s diary…”

 

“This isn’t going to work. We cannot have a meaningful conversation when everyone’s so tired.” Kaede realized. “We can meet back in the classroom by tomorrow morning. We’ll have our final discussion there, almost like a class trial.”

 

The class reluctantly agreed to her plan, and everyone went on their way home. Everyone, except Shuichi.

 

“Tojo-san, you stayed last night. I’ll stay tonight so you can get some rest.” Shuichi told the Ultimate Maid.

 

Kirumi looked almost as bad as Kokichi, with tired eyes and slow movements. “I’m afraid I must decline. To serve is my duty, and I will continue to carry it out.”

 

“I’ll put it this way- go home. Get some rest. We’re going to really need you supporting us tomorrow. Ouma-kun will need you too, so you need to be at your best.”

 

Kirumi looked like she wanted to protest, but after she debated with herself, she simply smiled at Shuichi. “I feel as if you’re getting quite bolder in the way you speak, Saihara-kun.” She observed.

 

The corners of Saihara’s mouth twitched. “Yeah, well, I just really don’t want my friends to suffer.”

 

“...I understand. Please take care of yourself and Ouma, and contact me if you are experiencing any problems. I will see you tomorrow morning.” With that, the exhausted Kirumi made her way out of the classroom.

 

Once again, Shuichi was left alone with Kokichi. He was delighted to find that Kokichi’s fever was almost entirely gone, and his breathing was less pained. It seemed that since Kokichi was unconscious, and therefore unable to experience hanahaki attacks, the damage to his windpipe was starting to heal. Kokichi’s progress made Shuichi’s heart warm with joy. He couldn’t wait until they found Kokichi’s love, so Kokichi could return to his normal, upbeat self.

 

Though, that jealousy Shuichi had experienced earlier from reading Kokichi’s diary hadn’t yet faded. Although there was nothing Shuichi wanted more than to see Kokichi healthy, he didn’t like the idea of Kokichi having a boyfriend. Shuichi didn’t understand why he felt that way.

 

He stared at Kokichi’s limp figure, and in a sudden overwhelming urge to have the boy closer to him, Shuichi wrapped his arms around Kokichi’s sleeping figure. Before he knew it, he had been lulled to sleep by the soft rasp of Kokichi’s breathing.

 

. . . . . . . . .

 

Luckily for Shuichi, he was able to wake up before anyone reached the classroom. He untangled himself from Kokichi and stood up, stretching. One by one, his classmates filed into the classroom, asking about himself and Kokichi. They all looked fresh and re-energized, as well as determined to save their friend.

 

Kaede and Rantaro arrived last, hand-in-hand.

 

“Is everyone ready?” Kaede asked. She was greeted with affirmation, causing her to smile at Shuichi. Shuichi nodded to her.

 

:Okay everyone. Let’s solve this case!”

 

**Truth Bullets:**

**-** **Naoki’s Account**

 **-** **Kiibo’s Livestream**

 **-** **Newspaper Article**

 **-** **Kokichi’s Diary**

 **-** **Hanahaki Experiments**

**\-      Security Camera Footage**

**-** **Fuyuhiko’s Account**

 **-** **Flower Bouquet**

**< < Class Trial, START!>>**

“We don’t have much time. We need to solve this as quickly as possible if we want Kokichi to survive.” Kaede proclaimed.

“I’m still not sure where to begin.” Tenko admitted. “We’ve gathered a lot of evidence, but can we seriously narrow down the entire school to one person?”

Kaito piped up. “Yeah we can, using the **Security Camera Footage**.”

Himiko cocked her head. “Nyeh, we never got the chance to see it. How can the security cameras help us?”

“Momota and I discussed the footage we saw from Iruma while we were breaking into Kokichi’s dorm, and we came to a conclusion. First, we’ll explain what we saw. Iruma, you replayed the footage over and over, so you can explain it better than I can.” Ryoma said.

Miu laughed loudly. “Of course I can!” Her tone grew more serious. “It was terrifying, really. There was no other golden footage than this one 6-minute-long strip of video, which was recorded on the day Ouma shocked us with his helicopter. It showed him having a brutal hanahaki attack in the hallway. I’ll spare you the details, ‘cause it was horrible.”

“That must have been hard to watch.” Rantaro said.

“It was.” Kaito insisted. “But remember what Korekiyo had said the first time we all met up to discuss our evidence?”

“ _Hanahaki attacks are usually triggered through the patient thinking about the one they love. This makes contact between the patient and the one they love very dangerous.”_ Korekiyo had explained.

“Based on that, Momota and I believe that the hanahaki attack Ouma suffered through in the hallway was triggered by someone in our classroom. This is only circumstantial evidence, but there’s a good possibility that it’s true.” Ryoma proposed.

“I guess that makes sense.” Tenko agreed. “You two sure think a lot for degenerate males!”

“…I’ll take that as a compliment.” Ryoma uttered.

“We’ve only just gone from assuming the mystery person is in our class, to confirming the mystery person is in our class. We need to move faster.” Kaede urged.

“May I express my opinion on the matter?” Korekiyo asked. When no one objected to him, he started to speak. “I believe Gokuhara is the one we are looking for.”

“Huh? Kokichi loves Gonta? That not possible.” Gonta assured him.

But Korekiyo didn’t back down. “It makes the most sense. Ouma spent the most time with Gokuhara, and expressed a lot of affection towards him.”

“I don’t see a problem with that theory…” Tenko murmured. She turned to Shuichi. “Hey, you. Was there anything in that diary about Gokuhara being the one Ouma likes?”

“No. There are no names in the book, and no dates either. But I do think that it’s a possibility.” Shuichi replied. “During the conversation between Ouma-kun and Naoki that **Kiibo livestreamed** , didn’t Ouma-kun say that **the one he loved would never join a criminal organization?** Don’t you guys think that Gokuhara-kun fits that description perfectly?”

“Wait- But Gonta-” Gonta stuttered, but before he could launch himself into full panic mode, he was cut off by Kiibo.

“Hold on. Before we start accusing people, we need to establish when exactly Ouma’s hanahaki started. Then we can ask our suspects if they remember any conversations with Ouma that could’ve plagued him with the disease. But since the diary has no dates in it… what do we do?” Kiibo wondered.

A light went off in Kaito’s head. “Hey, Amami, there should be a **Flower Bouquet** in that evidence box right behind you. Can you find it?”

Rantaro dug around the box, and after a few seconds of looking, he delicately held up a bunch of dead flowers tied together with a black ribbon. A note seemed to be dangling from the ribbon.

“There should be a date in the note. Could you find it and read it?” Kaito instructed.

“Let’s see… the name of the person the bouquet was addressed to has been scribbled out, so I guess that won’t help us. But… _On May fourth, could you meet me at the cafe near the park”_

“May fourth. Right around the start of the year. It’s January now, and the contents of the letter state that this crush Ouma has on our mystery person were formed before May fourth. So Gonta, since you’re our main suspect, if you can remember any meaningful conversations you might’ve had with Ouma around that time?” Kaito asked.

Gonta looked undeniably flustered. “Gonta no remember… too far…”

“Hey guys? What if that bouquet’s old? Like, really fucking old. Years ago old.”

“Why would Ouma-kun keep around a bouquet of flowers from the past for this long?” Kaede inquired.

“The note on the bouquet could be to anyone. Who knows how many people Ouma’s fallen in love with in the past? We could be spending all this time on one fucking thing, just to find out later that it’s bullshit. And it’s probably bullshit” Miu argued.

“No, that’s wrong… I have evidence against that.” Maki realized. “Kiibo, Chabashira, and I learned a lot while we were interviewing Naoki Suzuki, Ouma’s friend. **Naoki’s Account** is proof that the bouquet you found was originally addressed to whoever Ouma is currently in love with.”

“How the fuck?” Miu interrogated.

“Naoki said that Kokichi didn’t know how to love before he got hanahaki. Naoki, who has known Ouma since the latter was nine, expressed that Ouma had never experienced love, felt love, or given love until hanahaki. This might’ve been something Ouma told Naoki himself, or something that Naoki just picked up on. Either way, I’ve come to trust Naoki’s judgement. So that bouquet was definitely addressed to our mystery person”

“Wow. Good thinking, Maki Roll!” Kaito grinned, giving her a thumbs-up. Maki tried to hide her blush behind her pigtail.

“I’d also like to address something Naoki told me.”

“If we go by that, then the only people in our class who could be Ouma-kun’s opposites are Gokuhara-kun, Momota-kun, and Saihara-kun.” Kaede concluded. “Ouma-kun’s behavior was centered around malice, logic, and lies. Gokuhara-kun’s kindness mirrors Ouma-kun’s malice, Momota-kun’s morals built of belief and trust are the opposite of Ouma-kun’s logical thinking, and Saihara-kun’s devotion to always finding the truth is much, much different from Ouma-kun’s desperate attempts to shroud himself in lies.”

“So that would make those three our prime suspects, huh?” Kaito confirmed.

“On that note, after further thought about my earlier claim, I now have an argument for why it couldn’t be Gokuhara.” Korekiyo announced.

No one was quite ready for that.

“Nyeh?” Himiko squeaked.

“The **Hanahaki Experiments** , from a book in the library. I am going to get technical here, so please, try to keep up.” Korekiyo said. “There was a passage in one of the books I read that justified Saihara’s initial suspicion that the flower connects the patient and the one they love. In Ouma’s case, his flower is the forget-me-not, laced with roses. It seems that roses are a common occurrence in hanahaki patients, so we can ignore those. It’s the forget-me-nots we must focus on.”

“Nyeh~ I don’t get it. What exactly could a flower tell us?” Himiko argued.

Shuichi had a feeling that Korekiyo was smiling underneath his mask. “A lot. For those who don’t know, or for those who weren’t paying attention when poor Ouma was throwing up flowers all over our floor, forget-me-nots are small, bright blue blooms with a golden center. The color is important in this situation.

From what Shirogane, Yonaga, and I learned, the color of a hanahaki-generated flower coordinates somewhat with the receiver of the patient’s affections. For example, if a patient’s flower was a daffodil, it would be likely that the recipient of their affections had a yellow trait- like hair, eyes, or even a strong love for the color. But that’s where the ‘somewhat’ aspect of the equation comes in.

While that color represents the recipient’s physical traits, the specific shade of the color is determined through how the patient sees the one the love. The darker the shade, the more negative their outlook is, and the brighter, the more positive.”

“Hold on, that doesn’t make sense. Everyone who loves someone looks at them in a positive light, so there can’t be any dark shades.”

“No, that’s wrong.” Kaede cut in. “There are many people who fall in love with others, with the knowledge that they’re bad people. My cousin, for instance…” She fell silent for a moment before continuing. “She fell in love with her bully, who was also dating someone else. I remember helping her through some of her worst episodes, and I could tell that she both hated and loved that guy. But what supports Shinguuji-kun’s research was that the flower hanahaki grew inside of her was a flower called the chocolate cosmos. It’s a dark, almost black flower with crimson tones.” Suddenly, Kaede gasped. “Also, that guy she loved, he had black hair and red eyes! It makes sense now!”

“Indeed.” Korekiyo said. “This color theory can be applied to over ninety percent of hanahaki cases, and it would be safe to assume that this is no different. To bring things back to my original point, I believe that Gokuhara could not be Ouma’s crush for the simple reason that he has no blue or golden features of any shade.”

Shuichi thought for a moment. “If we apply that logic to our classmates, ruling out the girls… it seems that you, Shinguuji-kun, are a suspect now, due to your golden eyes. Kiibo-kun’s blue eyes makes him a suspect as well, and… I guess… I could be a suspect, too, since I have faded gold eyes and dark blue hair.”

“I thought your hair was black?” Tsumugi said.

“The color changes in the sunlight. At least, that’s what my uncle told me once.” Shuichi reasoned. “It’s far-fetched, but I don’t want to eliminate the possibility.

Kaito and Gonta both looked very relieved to be off the suspect list. However, Ryoma looked concerned. “There were so many clues pointing towards Momota… dammit. Even if Momota is no longer a suspect, we still haven’t gotten far. All we’ve done is create more suspects.”

Kiibo smiled reassuringly. “Luckily, we have more clues. We’re not done yet!”

Korekiyo spoke again. “I’m actually not a suspect. Ouma and I are to similar to follow Naoki’s opposites theory.”

“See? We’re getting places!” Kiibo enthused.

“Though, Kiibo-kun wouldn’t be a suspect either. I can back up Shinguuji-kun Momota-kun as well. I have my own way to tear down their status as suspects.” Kaede announced.

“Even better! Please explain that to us!”

 

“When I was in the Leader Research Lab for the first time, I interviewed Kuzuryuu-kun. **Fuyuhiko’s Account** states that the most likely candidate for our mystery person would be someone who reached out to Ouma-kun, and has made continuous attempts to get closer to him. Momota-kin gave up on Ouma-kun from the start, and Kiibo-kun didn’t push things with Ouma-kun since Ouma-kun kept on being robophobic towards him. Shinguuji-kun never even tried to get closer to Ouma-kun.”

 

“Oh yeah, if that’s the case, then you can definitely take me off the suspect list.” Kaito stated.

 

Rantaro smiled at Kaede, and Kaede grinned back. “That leaves us with one last suspect- Saihara-kun.” Kaede revealed.

 

“Me? No, Ouma-kun would never love me. I’m always being annoying to him, and he’s always messing with me.”

 

“Correct, Saihara. Now, Kaede’s going to explain every possible reason why she thinks you’re the one Ouma loves.” Rantaro challenged.

 

“Saihara-kun, pass me **Kokichi’s Diary** please. I want to read through it for myself while I’m explaining things.” kaede said. Shuichi passed her the purple journal, and she began to read and talk at the same time.

 

“Let’s start with the obvious. When Ouma-kun was obviously suffering, you were the only one who realized that something was wrong, and the only one who actively tried to help him. Throughout this whole year, you’ve done nothing but try to pry into Ouma-kun’s head and learn more about him. You’ve always tried to defend him from our insults. Sure, he would seek out Gokuhara-kun for protection, but for anything else, he would go to you.”

 

As she spoke, Shuichi’s brain slowly started to process some of the passages from Kokichi’s diary that he had blindly read in his jealous state.

 

“ _Today, my beloved started taking notes on my while I was talking. I didn’t understand why, but when I asked, he said he wants to get to know me better. He wasn’t my beloved before… but now that I know what a beloved is, I’m sure that he is mine. I wonder if I can ever become his?_ ”

 

Kaede continued. “You’ve also fit the criteria of every piece of evidence that we’ve covered during this trial. You’re Ouma-kun’s polar opposite, you fit the hanahaki rules, you’ve reached out to Ouma-kun, and as a detective, he would obviously believe that you would never join a criminal organization. On top of that, I realized that some of our suspects, namely Kiibo-kun and Shinguuji-kun, were not yet a part of the school as of May 4th, where as you were. And I saw how you looked at Ouma-kun in that classroom. Even though he was asleep… you were looking him in the eyes. You always looked him in the eyes.

 

“ _Today, I tried to give my beloved a bouquet of cute forget-me-nots and fluffy roses. But I was a coward. I couldn’t build up the strength to give them to him, so I just threw them under my bed. Something weird happened too. I coughed up a flower petal. I’m not sure what it means, so I’m going to look it up._ ”

 

I feel like I’ve already made my point, but I remember when Ouma-kun came barging into the classroom with a bandaged finger, bragging to everyone about how you had taken time off your day to cure him. May I also add that your name was the last thing Ouma-kun said before he passed out?

 

“ _My beloved bandaged my finger today. That might just be the only time he’ll ever hold my hand before I die._ ”

 

While Kaede was talking Shuichi noticed that her expression was gradually getting darker. But then, her voice grew low and dangerous.

“….Shuichi, I don’t know what the hell you were doing when you were supposed to be reading the diary, but if you had actually been paying attention to the words, this trial would’ve been over much sooner.” Kaede uttered dangerously. That wasn’t good. Kaede only called Shuichi by his first name when she was pissed.

“Right here, on the eighth freaking page reads, “ _My beloved came to talk to me again today during lunch. He wanted to talk more about me, but I was really distracted the whole time. The way his hair glittered like the ocean in the sun made me want to pet him, and his eyes looked so gold as he stared down at me that it made me want to kiss him right then and there._ ” Kaede scolded.

“Nyeh, I feel like I’ve heard those words before.” Himiko decided.

“Shuichi, you said the same thing about yourself earlier, didn’t you?” Kaito realized.

 

…..

 

He sure did.

 

Suddenly, something in Shuichi’s mind just clicked. No longer was Shuichi doubting anything. He needed to let go of the doubt. As a detective, when there was this much evidence, and nothing he could do to defend, he had to accept it as the truth.

 

And the truth was… the truth was that Kokichi was in love with Shuichi.

 

And maybe, Shuichi was in love with Kokichi.

 

Kaede looked satisfied, but still annoyed. “What were you thinking about when you were reading Ouma-kun’s diary, huh? Did you forget how to read?”

 

“I’m sorry….” Shuichi said weakly, aware that nothing he said could defend himself. Then again, he had no need to defend himself. Rather, he needed to give thanks to Kaede for helping him realize his feelings. And Kirumi as well, for knowing them in advance.

 

“I think I know how I feel. Can you give me a chance to talk to Ouma-kun?”

 

Kaede thought for a moment. Then, she smiled. “Okay. The trial is over, we don’t have time for some grand ending. All we need to do is have Saihara-kun relay his feelings to Ouma-kun, and all of this will be over.”

 

“Thank Atua! Everything will go back to normal!” Angie sighed.

 

“Hey, hey, Kiibo, d’ya think Ouma’s a top or a bottom?” Iruma giggled mischievously.

 

Kiibo looked ready to combust. “Excuse me?”

 

“Uh… guys?” Tsumugi squeaked. She pointed to Kokichi’s makeshift bed, which was empty.

 

Kokichi Ouma was gone.

 

Silence filled the room as rage, fear, and horror built up within the hearts of the fifteen remaining students in the classroom. To them, that feeling of pure terror felt as if they were each getting executed… one… by one… by one...

“He sneaked out, and NONE OF US NOTICED?!” Kaito shouted. Everyone looked horrified as the realization of Kokichi’s disappearance hit them like a truck. Shuichi kept staring at Kokichi’s bed, hoping that his eyes were just playing tricks on him, but they weren’t. Kokichi had slipped away, again.

 

“No.” Shuichi whispered. “No… no… no no no no nonononono… FUCK!” Shuichi screamed. “He’s going to die! He can’t die!!! No!”

 

Shuichi’s classmates had never heard him swear before. It was frightening… and overwhelmingly sad.

 

“He still thinks we hate him, he dropped out of school, and he’s not returning to D.I.C.E…. Where the hell is he going?” Maki growled.

 

“Anywhere but here.” Rantaro said. “I can’t imagine what’s going through his head right now.”

 

“Saihara-kun, if you can find him, you can save him. We’re all here for you, but we need to find Ouma-kun as soon as humanly possible. Do you know what you need to do?” Kaede questioned.

 

“I… I think I understand. I understand what I need to do, at least.” Shuichi proclaimed. “Akamatsu-san, thank you for helping me understand my feelings. However, this is no time to dwell on them. I can save Ouma-kun… but only if we fight.”

 

“Shuichi, what are you planning on doing?” Kaito boomed.

 

Shuichi clenched his fists. “For one fleeting moment, back in the classroom, Tojo-san told me that I loved Ouma-kun, and I believed her. In that moment, Ouma-kun was there with me, and it made me really happy. I don’t want to lose that. But more than that, I want to see Ouma-kun with us once more, being his true self.

 

Ouma-kun has no blood relationships, meaning that we are now his family. But we’ve been treating the exact same way his old family treated him. Ouma-kun deserves a second chance. He deserves to love without feeling pain. He deserves a family!”

 

With every word, Shuichi felt more and more sure of himself. He didn’t just think he knew what he needed to do. He was absolutely positive.

 

“If I have to search the entire world, breaking down lie after lie to reach the real Ouma-kun, then I will.

 

Because I… I really like him. And that’s the truth.”

 

Just weeks ago, Shuichi had a puppy love crush on one of his best friends. Now, the truth he had been seeking for so long became a new sort of love. Something stronger, something worth protecting. Shuichi Saihara was a man of routine. Routine was born from repetitiveness, and Kokichi was the center of Shuichi Saihara’s routine. He was the source of the love that Shuichi had been nursing from day one without Shuichi’s knowledge.

 

Because of that, no matter how much Kokichi wanted Shuichi to forget him…

 

He simply could not.

 

**> To Be Continued<**

  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HOW COULD WE END THINGS HERE?
> 
> Unfortunately, feelings just don’t manifest in a few days, and Shuichi needs a little more time to get his shit together. Because of that, there will be a second installment of this, called “Fight or Flight,” which will showcase a confused Shuichi chasing down his crush in a life-or-death game of hide-and-seek. It isn’t going to be as long as “Forget-Me-Not,” because I don’t want to drag this story on for chapter upon chapter, but I do want to give it an ending that isn’t rushed. When this new fic will be released, I’m not sure. I’m pretty much flunking half my classes because I’m so fucking slow, so I need to get that sorted out before anything. But I promise that this isn’t the end, and I’ll only keep you guys on a cliffhanger for a bit, so hold on tight!
> 
> On a more sinister note, after I publish this, I will be rolling dice to determine whether or not Kokichi will die. If I roll an even number, he lives. If I roll an odd number, he dies. It’s all up to fate.
> 
> Btw, please point out typos and weird wording. I like making things easier to understand.


End file.
